Destiny Is Unspoken
by AceyMarshmallow
Summary: "Who slipped something in my drink last night?" Getting taken away from the average world and dumped into the world of D. Gray-Man is not possible. It just doesn't happen. And yet it happened anyway. Not only do I have to survive - as well as fight - this war, but I also have to figure out how to save and change the storyline for the better. How do I do that? LaviXOC
1. A New World

**A/N: Hi~ welcome to my first (actual) story here (woohooo!) Feedback telling me how I did is very appreciated ;) This is mainly going to be from the OC's point of view, so i apologize if you're not into OC stories :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the plot or characters of D. Gray-Man, I only own my OC**

* * *

You know that split feeling you get in some situations? Like when you _really_ feel like getting a bucket of ice cream and eating the whole thing by yourself, but _know_ it will most likely not end well? Well, it's that kind of situation I am currently finding myself in.

"S-sorry…?" I mumble, pausing the music on my iPod and pull off my headphones, my mind both exploding with thoughts and is blank at the same time.

I continue to just stare at the cloaked man, the thought of the entire situation being a dream crossing my mind. I mean who in the bloody hell comes across a man hiding under a black cloak in the middle of the forest, in the twenty-first century?I _also_ would like to point out that this is Denmark, _the_ most boring, normal country in the world with a murder rate at 25 people pr. year.

Which is why I refuse to believe that what is currently happening is not real.

"Your name is Annabella Cathrine Morrison, correct?" It's a dark, rough voice coming from the person underneath the cloak, pretty obviously a man. There is a slight accent in his English that I can't quite put a finger on…

I simply nod in answer to the question, not even bothering to ask how in the hell he knows what my name is. _All I wanted was to take a walk in the forest, and then this happens…_

"Do you wish for a more exciting life?"

Okay, so basically what just happened is this: I was out walking by myself in the forest, minding my own boring business, as I suddenly realize this creepy-looking hoodie-man was standing and watching me in-between some of the trees (_not gonna lie, I nearly had a heart-attack)_. So I tried to ignore him, turned the other way and went back the same way I came… that was what I should have done at least. Curiosity getting the better of me, I ended up just standing in the middle of the small path having an extremely awkward starring contest with the dude (I obviously wasn't able so see his eyes, but oh well…).

Eventually it got a bit too weird and uncomfortable for me, meaning I turned around to walk away – only the guy was suddenly standing right in front of me (teleporting bastard! I pretty obviously screamed – who wouldn't right?).

At this point I was about ready to either go in total flee-mode and sprint the opposite direction, or just freaking tackle the guy, hopefully remembering some of the techniques I learned a few years back when I did martial arts (karate to be exact) for five years.

And that's when he asked if I wanted to leave this boring world behind and go live in the world of D. Gray-man as an exorcist – literally not joking!

Usually I would have started laughing if somebody asked me that, but I was too stunned to do anything.

"Do you?" The cloaked man asks again, cocking his head to the side and ripping me out of my own hurricane of thoughts. Okay, I get it. There are two different people in this kind of situation: the rational person that just turns and walks away, and the stupid person that immediately yells, "Yes!" and then hugs the guy or something. Not gonna lie, usually I would be the second one (the stupid one) and just go with the flow, but this time, my teeny tiny rational part of the mind is telling me that this is just too weird_ – _and I should probably leave.

But I can't.

That's where my stupid and naïve brain-part comes into action and says, "what if he is serious…?" _What if he is serious?_ Those five words keep playing over and over in my mind like a broken cd player.

Let me tell you a little secret – I love Anime (surprise right?). And above that I absolutely love D. Gray-Man, and I cannot count how many times I have asked myself _the_ exact same question Mr. Cloak-dude just asked me. _What if I could escape this world and be an exorcist?_

And just before y'all start jumping to conclusions about me having had a terrible life, never knowing my parents and living with abusive foster parents that hit me all the time and tries to starve me to death – I'm gonna have to say NO! I have not had a terrible life okay? I have had a perfectly normal life, with loving parents, a cute younger sister, friends, school, sports and so on.

But that's the problem. I _don't _want to live a normal life. I don't feel like growing up and working in an office – heck, I'm already fed up with school and I'm still just 17! Which is why I love watching anime, reading manga and fictional books. They allow me to live that life through fantasy.

But _now_, this cloaked weirdo has suddenly appeared, babbling on about sending me into a fictional universe (logic, please?).

"Yes." I suddenly answer his question, surprising myself. _Well all right then._ The atmosphere around the cloaked man suddenly changes into a somewhat satisfied energy, and something tells me that if I could see his face, he would be grinning.

"I can give you that."

At this point I have just decided to say screw logic and play along. My curiosity has gotten the better of me and I can already feel my hopes jumping sky-high. _Calm down. Think this through._

"What's the catch?" I ask, trying to look as serious as possible.

"Catch?" He repeats, cocking his cloaked head to the side. I definitely hear an eerie grin in his voice.

"There is always a catch to stuff like this." _Trust me, I have watched enough movies and read enough books to know._ Mr. cloak-dude simply laughs.

"It's a simple offer. Take it or leave it."

There is something about his voice – his words – that just sounds so…convincing. I can't quite put a finger to it.

"Why do you ask _me_ this?" That's actually a pretty good question, Bella. I'm as boringly ordinary as any other average teenage girl on this planet. The guy simply laughs again, seeming to be pulling something out from underneath his dark cloak. Following the movement very carefully with my blue eyes, I end up gasping a bit too loud at the object in his outstretched hands. Two Japanese war fans.

I grab one of them from his hands, inspecting it thoroughly.

The outer cover is made of completely black-shining metal as well as the ribs. The lacquered paper running over the ribs is white, almost silver-looking, and has a black plant-like design across it. I know for a fact that the other fan is the exact same. Why do I know this?

Because I'm the one who created them.

Technically I guess. I used to draw sketches of how I wanted _my_ Innocence (or Anti-Akuma weapon) to look like, just for the fun of it (though it was some pretty damn detailed sketches.)

"How did you…?" I begin but stop myself, as I don't know how to finish the sentence. I never showed those sketches to anyone; accept for my two best friends Ingrid and Nathalie.

"The _real_ question is; do you accept my offer?" Mr. cloak-dude chuckles, stretching forth his hands with the other fan; offering me to take both the fan and what is to follow.

…

_You know what? Screw logic. _

Having made up my mind, I grab the other fan quickly, as if my life depended on it. And then my surroundings disappear into a vortex of blackness…

Only for a few minutes though (which I of course spend, having a major heart attack). Just like my previous surroundings disappeared; new surroundings slowly begin to take form around me, first starting as a blur but then becomes more and more clear.

"What…?" I whisper, feeling as if all of the air in my lungs were just punched out. I'm currently sitting in a blind alley, on some pretty damn cold stones. Behind me, people are buzzing back and forth the alley, not even noticing my presence in the slightest. Also, the people here are wearing some really old-styled clothes; the women wearing long dresses and most of the men are wearing black suits and hats. _What!?_ It also smells kind of weird here.

"Where am I…?" I murmur softly, getting up from the cold ground and dusting off my lace-shorts. Besides from a slight headache, I feel just fine. For some reason, I have managed to hold a tight grip around the two fans I got from–"

"Oh shit – Hey cloak man!" I yell, feeling myself slowly start to panic. _Did he just leave me?_

"You know where you are, Annabella." I hear his raspy voice say, making me instantly turn around to find him standing a little further down the closed part of the alley. I feel myself calm down.

"Am I seriously…? I mean did you…?" I fumble a bit around with the words, getting more and more frustrated with myself. "No way did you just send me into the universe of D. Gray-Man! It's fictional! Isn't it…?"

I don't even know anymore. I am seriously and utterly confused right now.

"Why don't you let 'that' answer your question?" Mr. cloak-dude suggests, nodding his hidden face toward the fans in my hands.

As if on cue, a soft green light is shot out from both fans, illuminating the dark alley for a few seconds before it dies down again. _The fuck…?_ Come to think of it, I have been feeling some kind of warm, almost alive, sensation from the fans ever since I got here. _No way…_

"Am I seriously in the D. Gray-man universe right now." I whisper. Instead of answering my question, the cloaked man throws a bag toward me, landing right by my feet.

"I thought you might want some of your personal belongings with you."

Squatting down and zipping the large bag open, I see to my surprise all of my clothes and toiletry in it. He even put in a small wallet with some 19th century British pound for me to use.

"Just remember, this weapon is solely made from your memories. It is made out of your own ideas on how you have always wanted it to function. Look deep inside your mind and remember what your own thoughts were of this Innocence. Now, I transported you to the center of London," the guy explains, while I continue to look through the bag: trousers, shorts, skirts, shirts, t-shirts, pajamas, socks, panties and bras (seriously? pervert), my favorite book, my sketchbook, necessary toiletries (as well as tampons…awkward, reeeal awkward) – he seriously remembered everything! Finally, lying in a small envelope is a couple of pictures of my family, friends, classmates and me…

"What about my family and friends?" I ask, suddenly remembering the funny detail about me being in another universe.

"Just don't worry about them." I hear him answer as I pack all of the stuff into the bag again, including the fans with (I guess) Innocence in them.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I hiss, getting real tired of his shitty way of avoiding questions all the time. I look up from the bag to give him a glare, only to find that he's…

Gone…

"Hey!" I exclaim, getting up from the ground to get a better look of my surroundings. "What do you mean I shouldn't worry about them?!"

I get nothing but silence in response.

"Asshole." I mumble, picking up the bag and throwing the strap over my shoulder. Couldn't he at least have super-transported me all the way to the Black Order? How the hell am I supposed to find that place in a foreign country, in the 19th century – in a fictional universe!?

"Okay, take a deep breath Bella."

I do as I just told myself, taking a long breath and closing my eyes, running a hand through my caramel-colored hair to calm down. He _just_ said I am currently in the center of London. I remember reading somewhere that the Black Order is placed _near_ London. Heh. Okay. No need to panic. I just need to get to the outskirts of London and then search for the place. Right?

…

"Fuuuuuuuck! How do I do that?!"

* * *

Okay, so after being on the verge of tears, I bought a map and a compass from an old British man, running his own shop. I'm not exactly a professional at using a map and compass, but I do have a good sense of direction, so by the end of the day I actually made it all the way to the outskirts of London and found a small inn I could stay at.

While doing this, I also made sure to try out my Innocence, activating and deactivating it when no one was around. Now, my thoughts when creating the fans was to use them as a sort of boomerang, so I also ran around and threw with them (whenever I was alone of course), which turned out to be a bit difficult. It's actually surprisingly hard controlling them, so while finding the Order, I'm gonna have to practice with my weapon as much as possible to get the hang of it.

That night before going to bed, I ran around in my room, jumping up and down and fangirling like a madman. Heh.

This is going to be one heck of an adventure.

* * *

**A/N Welp~ that's the first chapter, thanks for reading :D It was mainly just an introduction of Annabella, and the real deal will begin next chapter when she joins the Order (uuuuuh!). I hope you liked it!**


	2. Exorcist's Headquarters

**A/N: Here's the second chapter! Thank you to crownclown25 for the review :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man, just my OC.**

* * *

Panting I stop, finally letting myself get a little break. The bag I am carrying on my shoulder is seriously starting to kill me, the strap on it must have already given me a bruise ages ago. _I bet the cloaked guy did this on purpose…_

I look up at the enormous castle-like building – or maybe it looks more like a huge church? Something in between at least, only it's like seven times bigger. Finally I found it, the exorcist's headquarters – the Black Order. Don't ask me how I managed to find it – it just kind of happened. It was as if I had this mental compass inside my mind, telling me whenever I was on the right track. Once again, I think the cloaked man might have had something to do with it. _  
_

This is definitely the new headquarters, meaning the storyline is happening somewhere after the level 4 akuma-attack. _Damn it_. I had been hoping I might get here before everything regarding the fourteenth happened, so I would be able to delay or change the situation to a better one – but I guess that's not possible now. I still don't quite know where in the storyline I am though. _Guess I'm just gonna have to take things as it comes… _

I still end up sighing in relief – I mean who wouldn't? I have been strolling around the outskirts of London for three freaking weeks, trying to find this place. I even ran into four level 1 Akuma on my way. Not gonna lie, I nearly pissed my pants. But I still managed to exercise them (after nearly getting myself killed a few times)! And I have gotten a pretty good hold of my Anti-Akuma weapon during those weeks.

Starring at the majestic building, out of the corner of my eye I notice a few bat-like creatures flying around, only their body is completely round with a little – what looks like – a microphone on it. I remember these clearly from the manga, they're called golems and are machines created by the Science Division to keep an eye on things, like for example if an outsider is about to enter the headquarters (oh, the irony). This means they already know I'm here, and given the fact that I probably look like a confused lost little girl, the Supervisor is most likely already thinking of how to get rid of me, since they can't let any random villagers enter. _No need to wait, I guess._

I move my brown coat in place and then switch the bag to my other bruised shoulder, wincing slightly at the pain, and then with my heart starting to beat a little faster than usual, I take a deep breath and start to walk up the slender path, which is completely surrounded by dark, tall trees, leading to the main entrance. _I hope they don't have any weird booby-traps hidden here. If they do, I'm just gonna turn around and come back later. _

Luckily they don't, and a few (painful) minutes later I finally find myself placed in front of the enormous gate to the Black Order.

For a couple of minutes I just stand here awkwardly, waiting for the people in the headquarters to say something, but then realize they're not gonna be the ones to start up the conversation here. _Are they hoping I will leave if they don't say anything? _

With hands nearly shaking from being nervous, I try to clear my throat as much as I can, given the current situation I am in.

"Um, is this the Black Order?" I ask aloud, probably not sounding as confident as I was hoping. I go on a little louder, "Where the exorcists live? – I'm an exorcist!" _Is that even the right thing to ask? And way to go adding that awkward comment by the end Bella._

Silence.

They're probably desperately discussing how to handle this odd situation, given the fact that normal people really don't know anything about this place.

"Sorry, what's your name and which General sent you? We are trying to find your recommendation letter." I suddenly hear a voice say, not quite sure where it's coming from though.

_Argh, shit…_

"Um, I kind of haven't sent a recommendation letter." I say awkwardly, my cheeks burning up, "And I wasn't sent by anyone…I didn't know it was required." I hurriedly say afterwards. A little pause is followed. _Dammit, how can I be so stupid?! I should have sent a fake recommendation letter! Not really sure whether that would have been possible as I don't know the address though…_

"Take the examination from the Gatekeeper in front of you." The voice suddenly instructs.

I look up at the huge stone head on the gate, which suddenly starts to move, and in the blink of an eye has stretched itself all the way down to me. I yank in surprise and a little yelp escapes from my lips. _I must look like a real scaredy-cat._ And I even knew this was coming, having read the manga and all!

"X-ray examination. Determining whether subject is human or Akuma!" It's robotic voice yells out, followed by a piercing light coming from its gapping eyes, nearly blinding me. Suddenly remembering that it has mistaken someone else in the manga before for being an Akuma, I start to feel a bit nervous again. _Oh dear god, please don't let it mistake me for an Akuma._

"Accepted!" It yells out, again making me jump a little in surprise.

"Subject is human." Oh, _thank god_.

"Permission to enter is granted!" It finally yells out, then stretches back into the door, which then with a high creak slowly opens up for me to enter. A little hesitating I slowly take one step at a time toward the building. I haven't made it far though, as a very familiar-looking guy in his mid- twenties shows up, his sandy blond hair standing up very messily, wearing a white open lab coat, the sleeves rolled up and a waistcoat underneath it. _I know this guy!_

"Sorry about the rude introducing." He apologizes, rubbing his neck in a tired motion.

"That's fine," I say smiling, wanting to give off a good first impression myself, "better play it safe." He eases up a little, a sleepy smile finally showing on his face as he pulls his hand out of his pocket in front of me.

"I'm Reever Wenham, the chief of the European Branch Science Division, Section 1. Nice to meet you." Politely I shake his hand.

"I'm Bella Morrison, it's nice to meet you too." I respond, thanking God and myself for my good English I managed to develop back in school. _During my long three weeks of traveling, I decided it'd be much easier to just shorten my name._ "Sorry for all the trouble, by the way." _Well not really, but might as well be a little too polite in the beginning._

"Not at all." He laughs, then points a thumb behind him, "I'll be taking you to the Branch Heads office. It's this way." Without complaining I follow Reever, overjoyed about finally having made it to my set destination. _Is this really happening?_

* * *

I guess I probably should have paid more attention to my surroundings, this Order almost having the size of a country and all, but truth to be told, all I have been doing is trying to control the urge not to scream, laugh or cry out insanely happy at the current situation I am in. So yeah, I have been mentally fangirling the entire way…

Which is why when Reever suddenly stops in front of me, saying we are in the Supervisors office, I have to mentally slap myself really hard in order to get back into reality. Very fast I look around to get a little grasp of my surroundings, and I can confirm that this truly is the Head Chiefs office, given the fact that the entire floor is literally hidden underneath stacks of undone paperwork. A little smile tugs on the corner of my lips as I see the messy office, _he is so funny._

"Supervisor." Reever mumbles despondent to the sleeping, dark haired man, lying on top of his office desk, which is also filled with stacks of paperwork. I tilt my head to the side, wondering if that's _really_ all he does?

"Hmm?" He mumbles, looking up, the white beret almost falling off of his head. Suddenly getting a glance of me standing behind Reever he jumps out of his chair, making me take a step back out of surprise.

"Sorry about that!" He chuckles, placing the wire-framed glasses in place on his nose. "I pulled an all-nighter so I'm a little tired." He goes on.

"So did I." Reever murmurs annoyed. The Supervisor just ignores him and then politely shakes my hand.

"I am Komui Lee, Chief Officer of the Black Order and Branch Head of the European Branch." He smiles, maybe a little too excited.

"My name is Bella Morrison." I smile back. "Thank you so much for having me." Komui continues to shake my hand, beaming like a little kid.

"Welcome to the Headquarters Bella! Make yourself at home."

He makes a motion for me to turn around, pointing toward the only paper-free object in this room – the couch. Just as I'm about to sit down (my legs practically screaming for the purple furniture) the door opens, revealing a certain dark-haired girl with a coffee mug in hand, making me stop dead my tracks.

"Oh!" She exclaims softly as both of our eyes meet. Gently shutting the door again, she looks a bit confused at me and then to her brother – obviously wondering who in the hell I am and what I'm doing here.

"Lenalee, this is Bella Morrison, she is an exorcist," Komui explains, his entire face lightening up even more (however that's possible) at the sight of his sister and the mug of coffee, "Bella, this is my adorable sister Lenalee!"

I smile at that.

Lenalee blushes embarrassed, ignoring the comment as well as possible and putting the blue mug down on the table. She then turns to me with a big smile, shaking my hand. _Something tells me I'll be shaking a lot of hands today…_

"It's so nice to meet you, Bella."

"You too." I smile back, understanding why people here like her so much. There is something about her that's just comfortable to be in the presence of. And she is really pretty – even with short hair.

After that I instantly slop down in the couch, not caring whether I'm being impolite or not, I just need to sit down and get this crappy bag off. _I still hate the damn thing. As soon as I don't need it any longer I'm gonna rip it in tiny pieces and then drown it. _

Lenalee sits down beside me, still smiling. "So will you be joining the Order?"

I smile back at her, nodding, and desperately fighting the urge not to hug her insanely like some crazy kid that just got its first teddy bear. _Control yourself Bella! _Komui leans against his desk, clearing his throat.

"So, Bella," Komui begins a little more serious, still smiling though, "what's your story?"

_Here goes nothing. Time to put my lame backup-story into action…_

"Well," I begin, all three sets of eyes on me now, "a couple of weeks ago, the town I was living in was attacked by an Akuma." I quickly take a pause, trying to sound as believable as possible (I'm not exactly the best liar), "That was when I discovered I had Innocence, of course, I didn't know what was happening back then. My weapon just activated on its own and before I even realized it, I had killed the Akuma." Now that I say it out loud, the story sounds really cheesy. _You can't really stop now, can you?_ "This is when an older man came up asking me if I was an exorcist in disguise. Being quite confused about the situation I had just been through, he started to tell me about exorcists, Akuma, the Black Order and of course Innocence, and how it was all connected, though it all sounded a lot more like theories and questions instead of actual answers to me. Still, I decided I would try and find out whether it was all true or not, and so I began to search for this place based on theories and rumors I heard. I was attacked by a couple of Akuma during my search, and I came to the conclusion that if there really where such a thing as a main headquarters where people like me live to fight these things, I would want to help them." I say, finally finishing my silly back-up story. _As ridiculous as it sounds, will you just please believe it?_

"Well," Komui says, now smiling even wider than before, "then you have certainly come to the right place."

I instantly ease up, relieved and a little surprised that they believe me.

"So, where is your Anti-Akuma Weapon?" Komui asks with a curious look, followed by two just as curious glances from Lenalee and Reever.

"Oh!" I exclaim, having completely forgotten all about it for a minute. I lean forward to open up the bag and take out the two folded fans, the black metal shining slightly under the sharp light here.

"Are they both Anti-Akuma Weapons?" Reever asks, looking a little confused at me. I just nod.

"So there is Innocence in both of them?" Lenalee asks, looking just as confused as Reever. She shifts a little to get a better look of the fans in my hands. _Huh? She's right. I totally hadn't thought of it that way._ Now, probably looking just as confused as Lenalee, I look down at my weapons. There has to be Innocence in each of them if they both have to work, right? Or maybe not? What the hell do I know it was Mr. cloak-dude that gave it to me.

"I actually don't know." I mumble, loud enough for all three of them to hear it. I look up at Komui, hoping he might have an answer.

"Odd." He murmurs, glancing at the fans and then back to me.

"Is that bad?" I ask, feeling totally lost and kind of weirded out by this. _But then again, Lenalee has a pair of boots as her Innocence. But maybe it's not the same?_

"Not particularly." His smile instantly returns. "I guess time will show. Let's go to Hevlaska, maybe she knows something." I get up from the couch nodding, followed by Lenalee.

"Reever~ take Bella's bag to her room, will you?" Komui beams while showing me another way out.

"What am I, your personal waiter!?" Reever yells after him annoyed. _Actually I could have taken the bag myself, if it wasn't because of the bruises it has given me._

_… _

_Oh please, who the hell am I kidding? I don't want to carry that thing ever again even if my life depends on it._

* * *

As we take the elevator down to Hevlaska, Komui begins to tell me about the story of the Innocence, and even though I already know everything he tells me, I still listen very carefully, just to be on the safe side. He ends the entire explanation with a pretty damn convincing speech, saying he hopes I will help them win this war.

"I hope you will help us win this war, Bella."

"That's what I'm here for." I answer him, even though my mind is actually starting to panic a bit now. _I can't believe I'm actually in a war now. I think I'm gonna have to pull myself together a bit if I don't want to get killed here._

"We're here." Lenalee states, stepping out of the elevator followed by Komui and then me.

"Hevlaska, I want you to meet our new exorcist, Bella Morrison." Komui says friendly, then turns to look at me. "Bella, this is Hevlaska."

I look up at the approximately 51 feet tall ghost-like creature, which looks to be made mainly of tendrils but becomes more refined, wispy hair-like strands around it's head, covering the eyes so only the nose and purplish lips are visible.

"Hevlaska is also an exorcist," Komui explains, "She has been acting as the Black Order's keeper of the shards of Innocence which has yet to find its Accommodator for hundreds of years."

"Nice to meet you." I mumble awkwardly in awe, holding forth my Anti-Akuma Weapon to let her examine it. Two tendrils reach down for the fans and very carefully Hevlaska starts to examine my Innocence.

"I-I… feel a good connection between the Innocence and its Accommodator…" She murmurs. "7…15…32…49…55…64 percent. Your maximum synchronization rate is 64 percent." Gently she puts them back in my hands. _I wonder if that's good enough?_

"Synchronization is the life-line for the Anti-Akuma Weapon activation. The lower the synchronization percentage, the harder it is to activate, and the user may become endangered." Komui explains.

"Bella Morrison…" Hevlaska goes on, now having her gaze at me, "your arrival here will give you an entire new existence to this world… you will experience great happiness… and pain. How it will turn out in the end I cannot predict, however it is solely your will, determining that." One of her tendrils gently touches my forehead, sending a warm tickling sensation through my body.

"Bella Morrison, the girl who sees through time."

"Sees through…time?" I mumble.

"Interesting," I hear Komui murmur. "You know Hevlaska's fortune telling is correct most of the time." He turns towards Hevlaska, "So Hevlaska, about Bella's Innocence?"

"It is as if the Innocence is two different kinds, yet it is the same." She answers Komui. _That sounds kind of confusing. I kind of regret not just creating one fan now, something tells me having two is going to become really troublesome. _

"Bella, may god be with you." Hevlaska finally finishes her odd speech (it's the oddest one I have ever witnessed at least). Not quite knowing how to reply to that, I just smile awkwardly back at her.

"Oh well, now that we are done with that, Lenalee and I will show you around the Order!" Komui beams, lightening up the heavy atmosphere.

"Brother, you have a lot of paperwork you need to finish." Lenalee scolds Komui. "I'll show Bella around, you should get back to work."

"Eh~? I want to show Bella around too!" Komui whines at his younger sister, but she is already pulling me away in the wrist toward the elevator.

"Have fun brother!" She laughs softly at him, waving as we get into the elevator, leaving Komui with Hevlaska.

"Gosh, he always tries to escape work." She sighs, as we go up in the elevator. I just smile, totally loving the relationship those two have.

_I still cannot believe I'm actually here. Mental note number one; continue to not visibly fangirl._

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a comment telling me what you think :D**

**At any rate, the story is gonna take place a few chapters after the Level 4 Akuma attack, so there might be a bit of spoilers for those who haven't read the manga yet. HOWEVER it will be a while before i mingle it with the canon-storyline, so upon till then nothing major will be spoiled (I think O_o). **


	3. New Faces - Live It Up!

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man, just my OC**

**A/N: Thank you so much for the favorite, follows and reviews it means so much to me knowing you guys like my story! Here's chapter 3 ;)**

* * *

"This is the cafeteria." Lenalee states as we walk into a huge dinning hall with beautiful chandeliers hanging everywhere and two rows of long benches, all lined up very precisely. _I wonder if the one that designed this had OCD?_

"That's our cook, Jerry." Lenalee goes on, pointing to the other end of the cafeteria, where a very tall Indian-looking man with a sleeveless chef's overall and sunglasses is standing behind a desk, cooking ridiculously fast.

"Here is the lounge." She goes on as we walk through another big hallway, past a big room filled with black leather-couches all facing their own direction toward one of the many coffee tables. On the right wall a gigantic fireplace cut out in stone is standing, and the entire left wall is one big window, with a view of the eerie-looking forest outside.

"This is where everyone from the Science Division works." She explains after we have made it a little further down the building to a room that's twice the size of the cafeteria, which is filled up with desks, paperwork and a bunch of complaining, hard-working and sleeping scientists._ Poor things._ I think, but still end up grinning (almost evilly) at the sight of them. I manage to get a glance of Reever scolding one of the scientists for falling asleep, before Lenalee and I go on.

"There are other rooms as well," She explains, while we walk toward the other end of the enormous building, "like the library, the sanatorium, the hospital and of course individual rooms. Right now though, I want to show you where the training room is, that's probably where most of the other exorcists are right now, except from the ones who are on missions of course. I'm sure most of them are finishing their training soon to get ready for dinner. Then we can eat together."

"Sounds nice." I smile, once again feeling my nerves tingle, knowing I will be meeting so many "new" exorcists in a few minutes. _Mental note number two; control yourself._

"By the way, I have been wanting to ask you Bella; how old are you?" Lenalee asks curiously.

"I'm seventeen."

"Really? I'll be turning seventeen in a few months too!" Lenalee exclaims excited. _I know._ But I still play along.

"That's great!" I laugh out.

"It really is. This is the first time there is a girl on my age here." She smiles back, still very excited. "Besides you and me, there are only two other female exorcists here; Miranda and then General Klaud, but she isn't here very often, being a General and all. There used to be five Generals here, but Kevin Yeegar was murdered by the Noah and General Cross disappeared a few months ago, so we don't know whether he is alive or not." Lenalee starts to fade a little, looking dreary at her hands."So there is a lot more work for the remaining Generals now." I just nod, feeling the depressing atmosphere spreading slowly. _Oh no, I'm not good with comforting people I barely know…_

A few minutes pass by as I awkwardly wonder whether I should try to comfort her or something. _But would it seem weird?_ I end up simply giving her a soft smile, bending down in my knees a bit to be in the same eyelevel as I am nearly four inches taller than her.

"Can I ask you something, Lenalee?" I say a little hesitantly, trying to change the subject. She looks at me in surprise and then goes back to smiling.

"Of course."

"How many of the Noah is there?" Truth to be told I already know how many Noahs there are, but it's something else I'm aiming for.

"Well there used to be fourteen, but the fourteenth Noah was a traitor, so the Millennium Earl killed him. Oh!" She exclaims, suddenly realizing something. _Bingo!_

"We have completely forgotten to tell you that Bella." Lenalee goes on.

"What?" I ask, stupidly. _Got to play along, right?_

"Well, a complicated story told short, eventually after the Earl killed the fourteenth Noah, the Fourteenth was later reincarnated with Allen, an exorcist here at the Order." Her voice starts to fade again. _Oh jeez..._ "We don't know why though, and Allen is desperately trying to fight the Fourteenth so that he won't take over Allen's body."

Very fast Lenalee turns toward me, making me slightly jump. "But you shouldn't worry about it! Even though we don't have it completely under control, lately we haven't seen anything to the Fourteenth and we have someone keeping watch over Allen 24/7 in case something happens! So please don't be afraid of Allen, because he is a really nice person!" She breaks out, panting for air after having spoken a little too fast. _Holy crap. And people say I talk too fast sometimes…_

"Lenalee, calm down." I say, trying to calm her down a little. "How can I possibly judge a person I haven't even met yet?" _Cheesy, I know. But that's actually something I mean; I don't like judging people I don't know. Besides, I already know what kind of person Allen is._ I smile reassuring to her, which luckily calms her down quite a bit.

The rest of the way we talk about other stuff to lighten up the mood, having interesting conversations and chitchatting about this and that.

"This is where we all train." Lenalee finally says, stretching out her arm to show the never-ending training floor.

"Ah, there they are." She points a little further ahead where a small group of five people are practicing combat fighting. With sweaty palms and a pounding heart in my chest, I stumble after Lenalee. _Mental note number three; don't faint._

"Everyone!" She calls, waving her hand. _No, no, no! I don't think I'm mentally prepared for this!_

"Meet our new comrade." She turns around and looks pleased at me, followed by five couple of eyes now resting on me. _God, I could just bury myself under a rock, right now. Mental not number one, two and three combine!_ Feeling my cheeks blushing up, I try to clear my throat.

"Um, I'm Bella Morrison. Nice to meet you all." I introduce myself, mentally remembering myself to smile. I nervously sweep my (nearly too long) bangs to the side, so I won't look like a weirdo trying to hide behind it.

"It's so nice to meet you, Bella." The first person speaking up is a boy with completely snow-white chin-length hair and grey eyes. He has a very unusual-looking scar on the left side of his face. It's a person I know way too well. _Damn he's cute. Mental note number four; don't hug him… yet at least._

"My name is Allen Walker." _I know. _He smiles at me, raising his right hand, his left hand completely dark-gray and covered in scales because of his Anti-Akuma Weapon. Happily I shake his hand, now a more natural smile showing on my face (I hope).

"Welcome to the Black Order, I'm Noise Marie." A much bigger guy than Allen introduces himself. He isn't looking directly at me, because of his blindness, but thanks to the headphones he is wearing, amplifying his sense of hearing, he manages to politely shake my hand, which almost disappears under his own gigantic hand.

He moves aside smiling, as a woman in her mid-twenties comes from behind him with a couple of dark circles around her brown eyes, her coffee-colored hair swinging from shoulder to shoulder as she trips over her own feet, almost falling, but manages to stay up.

"I-it's so nice to meet you. My name is Miranda Lotto." She smiles a little embarressed.

"I am Arystar Krory. You can just call me Krory. I hope we can get along." The tall and lean guy beside me says, smiling so friendly at me that the sharp facial features and the pointy ears just makes him look sweet. I am completely forgetting the fact that there is a reason people sometimes call him a vampire.

"And I am Chaoji Han." A stocky guy with dark eyes and brown hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail says from behind Lenalee. _Thank god I have read the manga, or else I honestly wouldn't be able to remember all of these names._

"It's so nice to meet all of you." I say again, still blushing a little. _Damn it! Why am I so embarrassed?_

"The pleasure is all ours. It's been a while since we had a new exorcist join us." Marie says.

The next twenty minutes pretty much just goes away with me answering various questions like where I'm from, how old I am, questions that isn't too personal but still interesting enough for them to hear.

"Walker, go get changed so we can get some dinner." An unfamiliar voice suddenly says, coming from behind Allen. I look past him to see yet another familiar face sitting on the sidelines. _Was he there the entire time? Freaky…_ The young man gets up and walks toward Allen and the rest of us. He has blond hair, which he wears back in a braid that goes down to his shoulder blades, and sports bangs; underneath them two vertical red dots are placed on his forehead.

"I am Howard Link, Allen Walker's watchman." It's more like a statement than an introduction. I just nod. _Screw that, I'm gonna call you double-dot!_

"Actually I'm getting pretty hungry." Allen states, rubbing his stomach. "Have you eaten yet?" He turns to Lenalee and me. I shake my head.

"Then we can eat together." Allen says smiling, followed by a golden ball-like creature with four stubby legs, a long tail and two feathered wings, landing on top of his head. Apart from the golden color, the weird legs and tail, it looks like the black golems the Order has – having the exact same body size of a ping-pong ball and the same long wings.

"Ah, Bella this is Timcanpy." He says, looking up at the golden golem, which then flies up and starts to swirl around me a couple of times before settling down on my shoulder.

"He already likes you." Allen laughs and then starts to walk toward the staircase with Double-dot right behind him. "I just have to go change and then we can go eat."

Lenalee then follows him, and I wave at the others before turning around too. _Mental not number five; don't call Timcanpy 'Golden Snitch'. _

* * *

"So, what would the new beauty like to eat?" The cook named Jerry chuckles.

"I can have anything?" I ask a little in disbelief.

"Anything your heart desires."

"What are you guys gonna have?" I ask, looking at Allen, Lenalee and Link.

"I eat a lot of different things," Allen says, then turns to look at Link, "Link only eats different kinds of cake, though."

"Well, I'm twenty years old, so it is aright." Double-dot says, as if that explains everything.

"I guess something delicious with pasta would be fine." I finally answer Jerry.

"I'd like to have some noodle soup." Lenalee orders, followed by Link saying he wants some kind of pumpkin pie and Allen listing up so much food I completely lose count of it.

"Can you really eat all of that?" I ask him in total disbelief, even though I already know the answer.

"Sure, I–" He starts but gets interrupted by someone behind me.

"Of course I have to end up waiting for the Beansprout to get his food." Is a really grumpy and dark voice complaining from behind me.

"The name is Allen!" Allen snarls at the person.

I turn around to see who is standing behind me, hearing Lenalee saying something about not wanting to see them fight in the middle of the cafeteria. I look up at the tall, muscular Japanese with beautiful long, dark-blue hair put into a high ponytail (and I thought I had long hair), his bangs almost covering up the dark brown eyes. He is ridiculously pretty, prettier than Lenalee to be honest. _Yu Kanda. _He looks from Allen to me, obviously first noticing my presence now. _How can a guy be this pretty? Mental note number six; make sure to call him Rapunzel at some point._

"You must be the new exorcist, huh." He mumbles irritated.

"I'm Bella Morrison." I introduce myself, ignoring his bad attitude, because I know getting in a fight with this guy is not a very pleasant experience.

"That's Kanda." Lenalee says, trying to lighten up the mood.

"BaKanda." I hear Allen mumble.

"Nice to meet you." I say smiling and before I even notice it myself, I have raised my right hand, ready to gesture him. _What am I doing!?_ This guy is so rude he could have won an Oscar for it! Just like I feared, Kanda ignores my hand and instead snatches the bowl of soba at the desk behind me, making me look like a total idiot.

"Kæmpe nar…" I whisper irritated, making sure to be quiet so he won't hear me, though he probably doesn't understand me.

"Kanda is rude Bella," Allen explains, glaring daggers at the Japanese, "he didn't want to shake my hand either when we first met."

"Well I obviously don't want to shake hands with a Beansprout." Kanda mocks Allen. "The girl is as tall as you are Beansprout, isn't that clue enough for you?" He turns around and walks down to an empty bench. _Ouch. He is right though – to my own surprise I'm as tall as Allen (and Link)._

Allen then snarls things after Kanda I'd rather just forget I ever heard. As soon as Jerry is done cooking the food though, Allen gets in a better mood.

"Why don't we go to the lounge afterwards?" Lenalee suggests as we walk toward one of the empty benches, all of us very occupied on not accidently dropping our food on the floor.

"Sounds cozy." I hear Allen answer; only I can't see him because of all of the food he is carrying. _Can he really eat all of that?_ I wonder again.

"So, for how long have you guys been at the Order?" I ask once we have all settled down at the table. _I need to know where in the plot I am._

"I came here approximately a year ago." Allen answers, his mouth full of food.

"I arrived here a few months ago when we found out Walker was the host to the Fourteenth." Link says blank, making Allen flinch, realizing what Double-dot just said. He looks up at me from his food, an alarming and tense expression plastered on his face. Allen opens up his mouth to say something, but I interrupt him before doing so.

"I know about you being the host to the Fourteenth."

"Really?" Link mumbles surprised.

"And?" Allen asks worried.

"I don't mind." I reassure him with a smile while putting a fork filled with pasta in my mouth. Allen instantly eases up.

"What, did you think I would be afraid of you, or something?" I ask a little in disbelief.

"Well, it's just that people react differently to the fact that I am theoretically speaking, half Noah." Allen explains, eating the last part of his hamburger.

"It's been close to two months since word got out that Walker is reincarnated with the Fourteenth." Link explains with his usual blank face. "Some people here have a harder time accepting it than others. You do know who the Noah are right?" Link gives me a bit of a skeptical look.

"Long version short, they are the bad people who is helping the Millennium Earl conquering the world, right?" I take a sip of the glass with water in front of me. "Oh, and there are thirteen of them including the Earl and not counting with the Fourteenth." I add.

"That's right." Lenalee praises me, smiling bright like a little kid.

"As you are new, Miss Morrison, and weren't there to receive the same message as the other exorcists regarding the Fourteenth, it is my duty as Allen Walker's guardian to tell you this," Link begins, having taken upon the same harsh expression as Lvellie now, "if Allen Walker is to awaken as the Fourteenth and be determined as a threat to the Order, it is your duty as an exorcist to follow the standing order – which is to kill Allen Walker."

I can feel myself jerk in surprise at his last three words. _"Kill Allen Walker."_

I guess I should probably say something, anything. Nod and make myself clear that I understand. Tell him I promise to kill Allen if the Fourteenth is to awaken.

But I don't. I can't. So instead I end up sitting and having a stern starring contest with Link.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Allen, looking uncomfortably down at his food – almost ashamed. I can feel Lenalee's mood has gone from happy and beaming to dull and sad. _I guess I now have the answer to my question regarding where in the storyline I am. It's before the Fourteenth in Allen is awakened. That's good. Then I can still change a few things._

I remember what Allen said in the manga to calm everybody down regarding the awakening of the Fourteenth. And to avoid Link's order and pep the mood up again, I'm just gonna resay those exact words.

"That won't happen, though." I tilt my head to the side, a goofy grin making it to my lips. "I'm sure that if the Fourteenth should awaken and attack the Order, Allen himself will stop him."

I might not have blown my cover yet, but the looks on Allen, Lenalee and Link's faces is telling me that I'm gonna have to be careful from now on. I can't just resay all of the cool punch lines that is used to encourage everybody here – I'm gonna have to make up my own.

Let's just say that while Lenalee and Allen's very surprised, but happy, faces are sweet, the look I am currently getting from Link is telling me that he won't like me very much from now on. I guess that's fair enough; I did just piss him off by avoiding his order and then throwing off a cheesy encouragement speech. But I'm glad I managed to cheer Lenalee and Allen up in my own freaky way.

After that we continued to eat, while chitchatting here and there (Link was the only one not to participate in the conversation) for another ten minutes before a new person appeared.

"Ah, Johnny!" Allen exclaims, dropping his piece of bread as he waves to someone behind me.

"Hi Allen." A younger-looking guy from the Science Division greets Allen, putting his tray beside Allen's. He has huge fly-round glasses on, a headset and brown curly hair he has tied in a small ponytail. He is not very tall, probably the same height as Lenalee maybe even a few inches shorter.

"Link, Lenalee-" He says, as he greets everyone at the table while sitting down beside Allen, stopping at me. "Ah! You must Bella Morrison." He half states, half asks, leaning a little across the table to get a closer look of me.

"That's me." I mumble.

"Squad leader Reever told all of us about you, and I really wanted to go welcome you a little sooner, but there was just so much work." He excuses himself.

"That's completely fine, I understand." I chuckle.

"My name is Johnny Gill. I'm from the Science Department." Johnny says, taking my hand to shake it.

"It's nice to meet you." I say. _How many times have I said that today, anyway?_

"So, what do you think of the Order so far?" He asks me, taking a bite of his pizza.

"I really like it. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming." _With an exception of Kanda of course._ Johnny smiles at my answer, most likely not expecting anything less.

"You guys sure have been working late today, though." Lenalee states, turning to Johnny.

"But aren't they always working a little late?" Allen asks, giving Timcanpy an annoyed glance because he just ate the last piece of Allen's beef jerky. _Does golems even need food?_ Johnny just nods tired to Allen's question.

And so, we all end up sitting in the middle of the cafeteria having different conversations about random topics, even though none of us are eating anything. We are probably sitting like that for a few hours, the cafeteria slowly becoming more and more empty as time passes by. Eventually, I make it to a point where I feel drained from energy, my eyelids becoming unnaturally heavy, and honestly it feels like they are fighting a battle against my brain, trying to stay awake. I close my eyes for a few seconds, then open them half up and then close them again.

"Bella you look really tired." I hear Allen say. I yank a little in surprise, my eyes instantly opening up.

"Huh?"

"You look tired." He repeats. "You should go to bed."

"It must have been a long day for you." Johnny says, agreeing with Allen. I just nod.

"I'll go to bed, then." I mumble sounding a lot more tired than I thought. I get up from the bench finally getting to stretch my legs and am about to walk to my room, when I suddenly realize something.

"Um…" I start, turning around, looking at no one in particular.

"What's wrong?" Lenalee asks a little worried.

"I don't know where my own room is." I sigh. "Reever is the one who took my bag to my room."

"That's fine, I'll take you to your room." Johnny smiles, getting up from the bench. "I have to go to bed anyway, having work tomorrow and all."

"Thanks." I say, feeling so very grateful as I honestly don't know for how much longer I'll be able to stay awake. _Just don't faint in the middle of the cafeteria, because that would be extremely awkward._

"See you guys tomorrow then." I say, forcing up a last (tired) smile as Johnny and I wave at them, walking out of the cafeteria. We walk through the big hallways, up at what seems like a million of stairs and finally make it to the second floor, where the individual rooms is apparently, which is pretty much filled up with a lot of hallways with doors, each door leading to a personal room I'm going to assume. I try to pay attention as much as possible because every single door here looks the same, but honestly I don't think I'll be able to remember where my room is – despite having a good sense of direction (if I should say so myself).

"This is your room." Johnny suddenly states, stopping in front of one of the black doors.

"Thank you so much, Johnny."

"It was nothing." He smiles, then turns around. "I'll be going to my own room, then. Sleep tight."

"You too." I yell after Johnny as he turns down another hallway, completely disappearing.

Slowly I put my hand on the cold door handle, opening the door and walk inside the dark room. I stumble a little around the room at first, trying to find the plug, which I end up finding right beside the door, _I mean of course that's where it is; it usually is right?_ I switch on the light and look around the room, getting an overview of it all.

It's a pretty medium-sized room with light colors. In the left corner a big comfortable-looking bed is standing, the foot end facing towards me, and beside it my bag is standing. There is a small bedside table with a dark lamp on top. On the right side a little elegant desk of drawers is placed. There is a big window on the wall across the room, with a perfect view to the eerie-looking forest outside and with dark-blue, long curtains. _Cozy._

Not having the energy to start looking for my pajamas, I just kick off my black sneakers and take off my pants and socks. I turn off the big light and walk across the room, course right for the bed, and as I throw myself on it, I can just feel how all of my limbs are aching from tiredness. I pull the big duvet over me, and then let the entire day have a free run in my head, a soft smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

_I finally made it…_

* * *

**A/N: So yeah, I thought it'd be fun to have Bella muttering things after Kanda in her native language XD Also, I'm finally gonna have Lavi introduced in the next chapter (whoop, whoop!) I hope you liked this chapter, leave a review telling me what you think :)**

**Translation:**

- Kæmpe nar: Big jerk


	4. Life Is Like A Rollercoaster

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man!**

* * *

_Damn it!_ Aggressively I punch the wall beside me with a clenched fist. _Ow!_

"How can I possibly be lost!?" I snarl at myself, still walking down the long hallway filled with doors.

"I have a perfect sense of direction!" I cry out in rage. It's all because these stupid hallways look the same, I mean come on, at least put some numbers on them or something! Cursing and swearing at everything I come across I continue to walk down the dark hallway. I have been strolling around here for like ten minutes now. Starting to run out of curses and swears in English I switch over to Danish, knowing a lot more of them in my own language, yelling things I never thought I'd hear anyone but my deceased grandmother say.

"U-um, Bella?" I hear a nervous voice say from behind me. _Oh thank god!_ I spin around and see, to my relief, Miranda standing behind me in a formal black, long dress and her coffee-colored hair pulled back in a low ponytail.

"Miranda! Please help me, I'm lost." I whine as I run over to her.

"How do I get out of here?" I ask, sounding just as lost as I feel. "It all looks the same."

"Ah, don't worry Bella, I couldn't find my way either at first." Miranda says, now laughing a bit. She points behind her. "If you just continue to walk that way, you'll reach the stairs in no time." She smiles to me, followed by a little more worried look on her face. "Can you find your way from there? Or should I show you the entire way to the first floor?"

"No, no, that's fine." I reassure her. "Thank you so much, Miranda." I say grateful as I run down the hall.

And she was right. Not long after, I find the staircase leading to the first floor and I run down as fast as I can, which results in me almost tripping, so I decide to slow down a little, not to get in any accidents the first morning I'm here.

Running through the big hallway that leads to the cafeteria I pass Krory and Chaoji, yelling a quick 'good morning' to them as I pass by. Panting I finally make it to the cafeteria, stopping at Jerry's desk.

"Good morning Bella!" He greets me with a little too much energy in his voice. I simply continue to pant, raising a hand as a sign for him to wait a moment.

"Take a deep breath." Jerry chuckles, and I do as he says.

"The morning is my worst enemy." I tell him, finally starting to feel better. He just laughs at my silly statement.

"So, what would the young lady like to have for breakfast?"

"Just something light." I answer him, thinking for a moment. "A fruit-salad would be nice." He looks at me a bit questioning for a moment before turning around, taking out all different kinds of fruits and placing them on a cutting board. I make sure the black, tight shirt I'm wearing is sitting correct in the meantime.

"Bella!" I hear a familiar voice yell. I turn around, looking a little confused after Allen, but there are so many people in the cafeteria right now that I can't seem to find him anywhere, before I see his white hair popping out from the crowd as he gets up and waves at me, trying to get my attention. Smilingly I wave back at him, before I turn around to get my food.

"All done!" Jerry smiles as he pushes forth a tray with a big bowl filled with all kinds of fruits (some of them which I have never seen before), all cut out in different shapes, and a plate filled up with egg, bacon and toast. I look a little confused at the big plate I never ordered.

"I didn't-" I begin, but get interrupted.

"I know, but it's important to keep your energy at its fullest, which is only possible if you make sure to eat lots and lots of food." Jerry says, patting me on my stomach. "I have to make sure you get lots of proteins."

It's not that I barely eat anything at all, it's just that I don't have that big of an appetite in the morning, but feeling a little touched about the fact that Jerry worries about how I eat, I decide to take the entire tray with me. I thank Jerry and then walk across the room toward the bench Allen is sitting on, along with Link, Lenalee and a fourth person I can't quite see who is, because of the multiple people in the way of my view and the person is sitting with his/her back facing me.

I put my tray of food in front of Allen's and then dump down on the bench across from him, Link and Lenalee.

"I really hate mornings." I groan, as I let my entire upper body lie on top of the table, burying my head in my arms, literally using them as a pillow.

"Not a morning person, huh?" Link mumbles, Lenalee giggling at me. I just shake my head lightly.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Allen sighs, patting me on the shoulder, followed by Timcanpy lightly landing on top of my buried head.

"I wish all mornings would be erased from earth." I mumble, loud enough for them to hear me, though. They just laugh at my pitiful wish.

"Hi there." I suddenly hear an unfamiliar voice say, and I turn my head a little to look at the person sitting beside me.

"You must be the new exorcist Allen and the others told me about." The guy says, his left emerald green eye smiling friendly at me, the right eye completely hidden behind a black eye patch. He is wearing a turquoise bandana, holding back some of the red messy hair. It takes me about half a minute before I actually realize what is happening.

"Ah!" I exclaim straightening myself up so fast, everyone at the table yanks a little in surprise.

"I'm so sorry, my senses are really dull in the morning so I tend to not notice what is going on around me." I apologize awkwardly, speaking a bit too fast. I stretch out my hand in front of him. "My name is Bella Morrison and yes, I am the new exorcist here." I say, feeling my entire face heat up. _Well, this is just plain awkward. _

"Nice finally meeting you. I'm Bookman Junior but you can just call me Lavi." The redhead laughs, shaking my hand. _Lavi, huh?_ For some reason back when I read the manga, I always happened to feel quite drawn to the guy. But he is also one of the people I feel the most sorry for here; being a Bookman Lavi can't actually get any attachments. And as far as I know he is having a hard time thinking that way. _Well, I'm just gonna have to be extra nice to him._

"Let's get along, Lavi." I grin.

"Yup." Lavi friendly smiles back at me and then take a bite of his bread. _Damn he's good-looking. Mental note number seven; don't randomly kiss the guy._

"So hey, how old are you Bella?" Lavi asks, looking curiously up from his breakfast.

"She is 17, just like I'll be soon." Lenalee answers him ahead of me. _Guess she is still excited about that…_

_Mental note number eight; don't get angry with Lenalee for answering questions ahead of you._

"Really? Then I'm your elder, being 19." Lavi says a little cheeky.

"What, do you want me to address you with some kind of honorifics?" I ask, a smile creeping onto my lips.

"Great Lord Lavi would be fine." He teases me.

"In your dreams." I mumble, already having decided I will just be calling him by his current "name", Lavi.

"Then you're still the youngest exorcist here Allen." Lavi laughs at Allen, who just gives Lavi an irritated look in return.

"He is only one year younger than me and Bella." Lenalee tries to defend her friend.

"Yeah, yeah. So what is your Anti-Akuma Weapon like?" Lavi asks me, still sounding quite curious. Allen looks up from his own large breakfast, now looking just as curious as Lavi.

"Yeah, what kind of weapon is it?" Allen asks.

"It's two fans." I simply answer.

"Wait, two?" Allen says, Link looking a little more interested in our conversation now. _Oh geez, here we go. _I just nod.

"We can't really figure out why Bella has two weapons. Also because it's an equipment-type." Lenalee tries to explain. I glance over at Lavi who is being a little too quiet, which is probably because he is trying to come up with some kind of Bookman-explanation for this. _Yep here comes the trouble involving my Innocence. _

"Equipment-type?" I ask, hoping I can change the subject by pretending to be dumb and not knowing about the different types of Innocence.

"So far, we know of three different types of Anti-Akuma Weapons." Lavi starts to explain. I turn my head to look at him, trying to make it look like I'm actually listening. I think – or hope at least – that I have a convincing 'fake-listening-look' as I end up just starring at Lavi without listening. Don't hold it against me, it's too early in the morning for my brain to function and actually learn anything. I did it back in school too, the first class every morning I just pretended to listen to the teacher's rambling. My brain just works different from other brains, okay?

Lavi's explanation ends up taking far longer than what I had imagined, and finally, when the redhead does end up finishing his life's longest monologue, he shoots me a skeptical look.

"Have you even been listening?"

"Of course." I lie, giving him the sweetest smile I can muster at the moment. "Three kinds of Innocence; Equipment that is the most common, Parasitic that is much more rare and Crystal, which is an evolved type from Equipment – Lenalee being the only one to have it at the moment."

Lavi seems convinced by my short explanation, grinning and returning to his breakfast. "You learn pretty quickly. It looked like you were just spacing out, but I guess not."

_Argh crap… I need to work on my 'fake-listening-look' unless I actually want to have everything I already know explained a second time, and be forced to listen to it!_

A little idea suddenly strikes in my head.

"But hey!" I suddenly exclaim, everybody at the table looking at me a little in surprise. "If Lenalee has two boots as her Anti-Akuma Weapon, then isn't it the same as me having two fans?" I ask to no one in particular, but end up looking at Lavi. _Hell yes! No weird theories about my Innocence this time!_

"Well, not really," He begins. _What!? Come on, way to go killing my enthusiasm… _"I mean, Lenalee's Boots is a pair, you know they're parts of the same weapon."

"Can't my fans be a pair, too?" I ask a little annoyed. _Does he have to question everything? Just roll with it little Bookman. _

Lavi just shrugs. "Don't know, maybe. Then again, I haven't even seen your weapon yet. But it just sounds different from Lenalee's."

"So, what you're saying is my Innocence is different from yours." I more like conclude than ask.

"Somehow." Lavi mumbles, everyone else just shrugs a little.

"You know," He begins, looking at me again, "one of the things the Black Order and the Millennium Earl is desperately searching for, is a shard of special Innocence called the Heart, which is supposed to contain the source of power of all Innocence pieces. It's unknown what exactly it looks like, but it has been speculated that the Heart holds much more power than an ordinary Innocence shard and reacts in even stranger ways than usual. However, should the Heart be destroyed, every other piece of remaining Innocence would shatter along with it. It would be an incredibly large advantage over our opponent, and the other way around, if either side find it," Now Lavi looks a little too intense at me for it to be comfortable, "or the one compatible with it." _Wait a freaking minute._

"And because my Anti-Akuma Weapon _sounds_ a little different from yours, you think I have it?" I say skeptical, squinting my eyes together a little.

"Maybe. It's a possibility at least." He mumbles a little bit cheeky. God, how I wish I could just tell them I got this because I _wished_ for it and not because I was _chosen_ unlike everyone else here. I don't even think my Innocence is an official part of the 109 other shards of Innocence. Ugh, I should have just asked for one fan instead of two – problem solved! Now I have to live with these guys thinking I might be the Heart, when I'm not even from their world! It's ridiculous!

"Trust me, I _don't_ have it." I say, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Lavi just shrug his shoulders again.

"I never said you did, I just said there is a tiny possibility that you might have it. We also thought Lenalee might have it when her Innocence first started to act weird, but it turned out it was just evolving."

"Yeah, yeah." I mumble, then try to turn the whole thing around a little. "Then isn't there a possibility you might have it too?"

"I guess." He answers completely uninterested, picking to his remaining bread with a knife. I just go back to my almost untouched breakfast. Leaving our last topic, we all start to just chitchat a little, Lavi talking about something funny that happened on the mission he just came back from this morning, as Johnny suddenly walks up to our table.

"Good morning, everyone." He greets us all, full of energy. _Why are they all so hyperactive here?_

"Welcome back Lavi. How did your mission go?" He asks Lavi.

"Just fine. Why don't you sit down Johnny, something really funny happened I have to tell you." Lavi says, already cracking up from just thinking about it.

"Actually, I came here for something else." Johnny somehow apologizes, now swinging around with a long tape measurer and looks at me.

"Bella if it's not bothering you too much can I maybe take your measurements?" He asks me, then adds. "It's for your uniform."

"That's right, you never actually got your measurements taken when you arrived yesterday." Lenalee exclaims.

"Each exorcist get their own uniform when they go on missions." Johnny starts to explain. "And if I can get your exact measurements for the uniform, it will be a lot easier for you to move around in and it will provide a better defense."

"Sure." I smile, getting up from the bench to face Johnny.

"How do you want me to stand?" I ask, never actually having gotten my measurements taken before.

"If you just stand straight and stretch out your arms, that would be perfect." Johnny instructs me, putting down a sheet of paper on the table and a pencil down in the chest pocket on his lab coat. I stretch out my arms as I was told, making sure to stand completely still as Johnny starts to take my measurements, beginning with the length from my feet and up to my knee. He writes it down on one of the sheets of paper he brought along, and then measures the breadth of my ankles, writes it down, measures the breadth of my tibia, writes down, and he continues like that for another ten minutes, making sure to do it very thoroughly, even measuring the length of my neck for some reason.

Finishing up, Johnny stretches out his entire body and then looks satisfied at the paper filled up with the numbers of my measurements.

"Perfect! How do you want you're uniform to look like?" Johnny asks, turning to me again.

"I get to decide myself?" I ask, already having the entire outfit made and ready inside my head. _Yeah, I'm a nerd._

"Well, all of the uniforms have the same kind of design, but of course you get to decide yourself what kind of uniform you want, like for an example a long or short coat." Johnny says. "This uniform though will just be temporarily, as I am working on a new design at the moment."

"Fair enough. Can we make this uniform together then?" I ask.

"Sure!" Johnny beams, sitting down on the bench. He puts the sheet of paper in front of us and get ready to draw everything down with the pencil.

And so, we use I don't know how many hours creating the design of my uniform and having one heck of a large argument about whether I should be wearing a skirt or not.

"It'll be a lot easier for you to move around in a skirt." Johnny tries to explain.

"I don't care! What if I jump and people see my underwear?" I whine, a little too loud, my mind set on either shorts or a pair of pants.

"I'll make something for you to wear under it!"

"No! No! I refuse!"

"Come on, Bella!"

"Nope!"

After a long (and pretty loud) argument, we finally agree on something in-between the two options. Once we are finally done with everything, we are sitting by ourselves, Lavi, Allen and Link having gone off to do some training and Lenalee left to make coffee for the hardworking Science Division guys.

"I'll have your uniform ready by the end of the day." Johnny states as he gets up, looking quite satisfied at the sketch. "You should probably start training with the others, Bella." He adds, looking down at me. I just nod, suddenly realizing something.

"I don't have any clothes to train in." I look up at Johnny, hoping he have some kind of brilliant idea.

"Everybody have the same clothes to train in. I'll make yours while I make your uniform. In the meantime, you can just borrow a set from Lenalee." He answers me. "If I see her, I'll say you're looking for her."

"Alright, thanks." I say, getting up from the bench and walking out from the cafeteria with Johnny. I wave at him as I turn left toward the stairs, Johnny walking further down the hallway toward the Science section. Luckily on my way to the second floor, I meet Lenalee, who is about to go training with everyone else.

"I already put a spare of my training clothes in you're room." She says, before I even get to ask her about it. She follows me to my room, this time I make sure to remember the way, which actually turns out to not really be that complicated as I thought.

"I'll be down training with the others while you change." Lenalee smiles, closing the door to my room on her way out, giving me some privacy to change. I walk over to my bed where a set of clothes, very nicely amalgamated, is placed.

I quickly put on the clothes, surprised at how comfortable it is to wear, concluding it must be made of some kind of stretchy material. The boots are surprisingly light and comfortable too, despite looking the exact opposite. Luckily it's only the t-shirt that is a little tight around my chest, and the pants might be a little short, but it's not visible when I put on the boots. I rummage around in my bag, trying to find a hair tie to put up my hair in a ponytail and then exit my room.

Excited about my first day of training, I start to walk a little faster than usual through the hallways, sometimes making a little jump, still totally taken aback by how comfortable these boots are.

As I make it to the training ground, looking around and trying to find the others, I see them all at the other end of the room. A little curious as to what they are all doing, given the fact that they are all sitting on the floor, I start to slowly walk across the room.

As I get closer, I can finally see what is going on. On one of the grounds made for training, everybody is sitting around facing it, watching Allen and Rapunzel fight each other. And when I say fight, I mean they are _really fighting_; no mercy for each other whatsoever. _I don't want to fight like that._ Recognizing the red hair, I very discretely walk over and let myself dump down beside of Lavi.

"Do you all fight so intensely against each other here?" I ask, feeling the fear slowly spreading through my body, making me want to flee at the moment. Lavi looks at me a little surprised.

"Whoa, I totally didn't hear you Bella." He laughs. "And no we don't, it's just those two." He points at Kanda and Allen who is hitting and kicking out after each other like their lives depended on it. "They really don't get along, so they always end up literally beating each other up." He smiles brightly, obviously finding the entire situation quite hilarious.

"Thank god…" I mumble. Now having cleared that up, I look around to see who else is here. On another ground, a little further from the one Allen and Kanda is fighting on, Lenalee and Marie is talking, while lightly hitting out after each other once in a while. _That doesn't look so bad._ I smile at the sight of the 6'6 feet tall and buff Austrian-man battling the really tiny-looking Lenalee.

On the other side of the training ground, a nervous-looking Miranda is sitting along with Chaoji, leaning against one of the marble posts.

Suddenly I feel something very light appearing in my lab and I look down to find Timcanpy having settled down, somehow looking a little tired.

"Hi Tim." I laugh a little, stroking the golden ball, the feather wings falling down completely relaxed. I manage to get a little glimpse of some very sharp, shark-looking teeth as Timcanpy somehow yawns.

"Mind if I sit here?" I hear someone ask behind me. I turn a little to look up and see Krory now standing beside me.

"Hey there Kuro-chan." Lavi greets the tall, vampire-like looking man. I nod and he sits down beside me, smiling friendly.

"So, how are you doing Bella?" Krory asks me. "You know, with so many new things happening so fast."

"I'm doing fine." I reassure him, still petting Timcanpy. "It was all a little confusing at first, but I think I'm slowly getting used to this place."

"I'm so glad to hear that." Krory smiles softly. "I also had to get used to everything when I first got here."

"Before Kuro-chan came here, he had spent his entire life living in a secluded castle." Lavi says, joining in on the conversation.

"Before Lavi and Allen found me, the people in the village was really afraid of me, because I unconsciously had been attacking Akuma, so they all thought I was a vampire." Krory starts to explain.

"In the end, it turned out that it was Kuro-chan's Innocence that made him attack the Akuma, and so he came with us to the Black Order." Lavi finishes the short explanation.

"Since I at the time had never been out from my castle, everything was really scary and confusing at first. But eventually I got through it, and now I am more happy than I have ever been." Krory says, giving it a really happy ending.

"That's so nice." I smile at him.

Looking back at the fight between Allen and Rapunzel, I make sure to observe their every move and attack, deciding it'll probably be best if I just stay on the sidelines for today.

"Hey! Yu! Allen! Are you two gonna be done soon?" Lavi suddenly yells down at the two fighting exorcists. They both look up annoyed at the redhead, completely covered in scratches and bruises.

"Bella wants to try fighting, so take a break okay!" He goes on. _Wait! What!?_

"No I don't." I whisper, turning to Lavi. He just grins as Kanda walks out from the battle clicking his tongue in annoyance. Allen looks over at me, smiling.

"Good luck, Bella."

Lavi stands up and then pulls me up in the arm, making Timcanpy fall to the ground. The golem shakes its body a little in confusion.

"Can't I just practice by myself?" I ask, desperately trying to avoid the situation this redheaded idiot is about to put me in. I grab Lavi's wrist, trying to drag him away from the training ground, both of us pulling on one another in two different directions. Obviously Lavi wins, being the stronger one of us.

"No you can't." He grins, dragging me closer to terrifying training ground. "Besides I'm sure everybody here wants to see what the new exorcist can do."

"But I can't do anything!" I whine, tugging at his arm again. _How is he so freaking strong?!_

"That's kind of the idea with this place you know. We train to get stronger and learn." Lavi has finally managed to pull me into the middle of the training ground. I look over at Krory, hoping he will help me, but he just smiles encouraging at me. On his way out, Allen comes over and smilingly pats me on my shoulder. To my own horror I now see Lenalee and Marie having joined the others.

_Damn it. I guess life is like a rollercoaster, going up and down. Right now, I'm at the part where you throw up…_

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**A/N: Thanks sooooo much for the favorites, follows and reviews! My entire day brightens up whenever I see a new follow, favorite or review to the story and i just feel like updating immediately! **

**So, Bella finally met Lavi (under some pretty awkward circumstances). And now she has to start training and is close to fainting XD Stage fright, maybe (I don't know)? At any rate, thanks for reading I hope you liked this chapter - tell me what you think and leave a review :)**


	5. Fiction Is The Truth Within The Lie

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man, Katsura Hoshino does**

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I look up to find basically everybody staring at me. Rapunzel is the only person that is about to leave – making him my favorite person at the moment. I manage to get a little glance of Link sitting in one of the corners reading a book, before I with shaking hands turn around to face Lavi. _Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! _

"Calm down, I'll go easy on you Bella." Lavi chuckles. "We just need to know how good of a fighter you are." _What part of "I can't do anything" does he not understand?_ I take a deep breath to calm myself down a bit, getting ready for Lavi to start attacking me any second now. _Okay, I have two options at the moment; fight or flight?_

Very laid-back, Lavi takes a step toward me, opening his mouth to say something. Alarmed about his sudden movement, my instincts take over and as fast as I can, I move my legs in one swift movement toward him. _Fight!_ Quickly I slide my foot behind his left leg, grabbing his t-shirt as I pull back my leg, putting all of my strength in my arms; tackling Lavi, who with a loud bump falls to the ground on his back. I fall down on my knees beside him, not letting go of his shirt. He looks up at me with a confused and a little startled look on his face.

"Hi." He mumbles bewildered, our faces inches from each other.

"Sorry," I mumble, getting up and reaching down my hand to help him up, "I just got a little frightened." He takes my hand and I manage to pull him back up on his feet.

"Did you just tackle me?" He asks still sounding a little puzzled.

"Maybe."

"I thought you didn't know how to fight." Lavi grins back at me. Very slowly, he raises his right hand, provokingly flicking me on my forehead.

"Try to avoid it." He tells me, slapping me on my shoulder with his hand. "How many times are you going to get punched?" He asks me teasingly and then lightly claps me on my waist. I just look at him a little confused. _But you're not even punching me._ Feeling slightly stupid I just start to block his silly slaps with my hands. He starts to go a little faster, but not so fast that it's getting hard for me to block.

Slowly I start to ease up a bit, even making it to the point where I start to counterattack, which makes Lavi slap out after me even faster and before I even know of it, we're practically hitting out after each other like it was a real battle, not as aggressively and fierce as Kanda and Allen of course, but fast enough for it to be called training.

I maneuver around Lavi, behind his back and raise my leg, kicking out after his head. He dodges my kick in the last second though; bending down in his knees, then swings his leg across the floor toward my legs, trying to floor me to the ground, and I make a light jump in the air, dodging his leg. Suddenly I start to remember everything I learned from my teacher in karate, and I start to punch and kick out after Lavi, mainly targeting the few vital spots I remember.

"'Can't do anything'- my ass." Lavi laughs out at me; too fast for me to actually land a clean hit on him.

"You totally know what you're doing Bella." With a clenched fist he hits out after me and I block it with my wrists.

"Have you been doing martial arts, or something?" He grins at me; dodging my fist I throw right at his solar plexus.

"Karate, actually." I correct him. I make sure to hold my concentration at its peak, my face probably showing nothing but a focusing frown.

It seems as if I have suddenly become immune to my surroundings, my entire mind set on actually fighting Lavi. A few rare occasions occur when I _almost_ manage to land a hit or kick at the redhead, but to my own annoyance, he continues to dodge my attacks. Lavi on the other hand, manages to almost hit me frequently during our training, and I know that this despite just being practice, is going to be a thousand times harder than it was back when I did karate.

"Don't be too rough on her, Lavi!" I suddenly hear someone yell, and I look up to find (to my surprise) Reever standing beside Allen. He smiles at us, and Lavi stops his attacks.

"Let's take a little break." He smiles at me, panting a little.

"Alright." I mumble, realizing how tired I have actually gotten from jumping around hitting and kicking out after Lavi non-stop, for I don't know how long.

"That was really impressive." Allen praises me, as I dump down beside of him and Reever, followed by Lavi. I smile at the sight of Timcanpy sitting on top of Allen's head.

"Thanks." I pant. Reever gives me a bottle of water, which I gladly accept.

"How are you holding up, Bella?" The tired-looking scientist asks me, as I take a sip of the water from the bottle.

"Just great." I answer, still drinking the cold water. _People sure ask me that a lot. Are they afraid I'll have some mental breakdown?_ I look over at Lenalee who's walking toward us, and she smiles softly at me, before coming up and standing beside me.

"See you." She says, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Where are you going?" I ask, looking up at her in confusion.

"I've got a mission with Marie, so we'll be leaving in half an hour."

"What? Why?" I ask her dumbfounded.

"Bella, that's what exorcists do here." Lavi sighs. "Didn't you know that?" _Of course I know that! I just don't want Lenalee to leave…_

"Well then, good luck." I say to Lenalee, ignoring Lavi's annoying question.

"We'll be back before you know it." She smiles, leaving the training ground with Marie. I just look after them with a hopeless expression, feeling left behind, which is kind of silly, but I can't really help it.

"Cheer up Bella. They'll be back in a few days." Allen smiles, trying to light up the dull atmosphere. Timcanpy flies off of Allen's head and lands in my lab, obviously wanting me to pet him again. He pushes my hand a little, until I start patting him.

"You two seem to have gotten pretty close." Allen laughs. I just nod, smiling to him while still petting Timcanpy. Somehow he reminds me of my dog.

"Hey do you guys want to get some dinner? I'm getting pretty hungry." Allen suddenly asks a bit excited.

"He's always hungry." Lavi mumbles to me. I just chuckle a little, thinking it's cute how the youngest exorcist here is actually the one who eats the most.

"Oh well, I have to get back to those lazy people." Reever groans, probably talking about the rest of the science department, getting up from the floor. He waves at us as he leaves the training ground.

"Well," Lavi says, getting up and stretching his limbs, "It's almost getting time for dinner anyway. You coming, Bella?"

"Yeah but," I start, getting up along with the others, "actually, I'd like to take a bath first. Lenalee told me there is a sanatorium, but she never actually showed me where it is." Timcanpy flies up, landing on Allen's head.

"Don't worry I can show you where it is." Allen smiles at me. Lavi opens up his mouth to say something, but gets interrupted.

"There you are, idiot." A really old-looking man suddenly says, appearing right behind Lavi, kicking him on his tibia.

"Ouch!" Lavi yells out, jumping up a little in surprise, the old, almost bald man standing completely still, totally untouched by Lavi's sudden outburst, his eyes resting on Lavi is completely surrounded by dark black circles of makeup. He only has a patch of hair on his head that stands up making the shape of a question mark. Unlike everyone else here, he is not wearing training-clothes, but a knee-length black kimono with huge sleeves and a pair of brown puffy pants.

"Gramps!" Lavi exclaims, the old man who honestly looks a bit like a panda, just looks a little annoyed at Lavi. He then looks over at Allen and Krory, and finally with a more speculating expression he looks at me. Slowly, the wrinkled and extremely small man, walks toward me.

"You must be Bella Morrison. Komui already told me about you." The old man says, his right hand appearing under one of the big sleeves and politely I shake it.

"I do not have a name. You can just call me Bookman." He greets me, then looks over at Lavi. "And the brat there is my apprentice, but I am going to assume you have already been introduced to him."

I just nod. The only thing I actually know about this man is that he is the head member of the Bookman clan and that Lavi is his apprentice, the next successor of the Bookman clan.

"Ah, Bookman." Allen says, interrupting me while I desperately try to search through my brain for some kind of information about this old guy.

"We were just about to go get dinner." Allen goes on. "Do you want to come?"

Bookman just nods, still starring at me.

"Link, we're going to get some dinner." Allen yells toward Link, who is sitting on the other end of the training ground. He gets up and walks over to the rest of us, as we start to take the stairs leading to the second floor, Bookman literally ordering Lavi to take a shower before dinner, saying he smells of sweat. Link, Allen, Lavi and I walk down a new hallway I have never been in before on the second floor, (I mean how big is this building anyway?), Bookman walking down to the cafeteria ahead of us.

"This is the girls sanatorium." Allen says, stopping in front of a big light-brown door.

"And down there is the boys sanatorium." Lavi goes on, pointing at a door a little farther down the hallway. "Just call if you need something." He smirks, making me roll my eyes at him. _I don't even want to know what he's thinking._

"Let's just meet up in the cafeteria once we're done." Allen suggests, as he Link and Lavi walks toward the other door. I just nod, before entering the sanatorium. _Yaoi ahead!_

To be honest, I have never even seen a sanatorium before, which is probably why I feel so taken aback seeing this place. In the entire right side of the room, a long terrace in brown bamboos is placed with a lot of drawers build into the wall where one can put different stuff in it. A matching table is also standing there, with a lot of clean towels on it. The rest of the room is pretty much just one big spa, with an eastern-like design to it.

I walk over to the little terrace, taking off all of the sweaty clothes and throw it in one of the drawers and then walk down from the terrace. I stick my toe in the hot water, and then very slowly let both of my legs enter the water, letting myself dump down on the warm, smooth rocks, just sitting and splashing up and down with my feet in the water. There is a lot of steam, so it's kind of hard to see how big the sanatorium actually is, and honestly I don't have the strength to start exploring this place now. Lightly I jump down from the rock into the water, and start to swim around a bit in the huge stone-bathtub. I grab one of the soaps from the big marble-bowl closest to me, and walk through the water toward a small waterfall placed in the left corner of the room, in order to get myself washed properly. At first I find it a little difficult having to get used to this spa-like bathroom, stumbling around trying to find the shampoo, and when I finally find it, I'm having trouble washing my hair, but in the end it all works out fine, I guess.

Finally finishing everything, I take one of the white cotton-towels and wrap it around me, suddenly realizing something.

"I haven't brought any change of clothes with me…" I mumble to myself. _Well shit._ I turn my head, looking over at the sweaty clothes I borrowed from Lenalee, for a minute actually considering putting them back on again, but comes to the conclusion that it would be too gross.

Making sure the towel I am wearing is not going to fall off, I pick up the dirty clothes and walk over to the door, opening it up just a little, sneaking a peek through the small crack to make sure no one is around outside. I take three deep breaths and then at the speed of light, (I hope) sprint through the hallway, course right for my room, making sure to hold a tight grip around the small towel and of course the sweaty clothes in my other hand. Praying and pleading to God that I won't meet anyone, I make it safely to my room, smacking the door tightly behind me and I sigh out in relief. _Holy crap. That has got to be the adrenalin rush of the day._

Probably having used over half an hour in the bath, I hurriedly put on some clean clothes, just taking the first things I find in my bag, and then rush out of my room.

Making it to the cafeteria, (quite fast if I should say so myself) I ask Jerry to make me a burger, feeling extremely hungry after the training. Finding the bench where Allen, Link, Lavi, Bookman and to my surprise Johnny is sitting at, I take my tray with the newly made burger and briskly walk over to them.

"Ah, Bella! I finished your uniform and clothes for your training." Johnny exlaims, as I sit down on the bench across from him, Lavi and Bookman.

"Thanks a bunch, Johnny." I smile lively to him, taking a big bite of my dinner.

"You sure took your time Bella." Lavi grins at me. _Don't wanna know what he's thinking_

"I'm slow in the bath." I simply answer him. He just laughs at me. Lavi begins to tell Johnny the funny thing that happened to him during his mission with Bookman, that he never got to tell him this morning. As he finishes his story, Bookman finally says something, having been completely quiet the entire time.

"So Miss Bella, I heard from Komui that Hevlaska gave you a prediction?" The old man's eyes are now resting on me, and I look up from my meal a little surprised at his sudden "question".

"Yeah, she said something about me being 'the girl who sees through time'." I tell him, then adds. "I don't know what she meant by it though."

"You too?" Allen asks me, turning his head a little to look at me. Now Lavi and Bookman are both becoming really quiet. I just nod to Allen's question.

"Allen you got a prediction from Hevlaska too when you first arrived here, right?" Johnny asks, looking over at Allen.

"Yeah, she said I was a 'time destroyer'." Allen answers Johnny, still looking at me though.

"That sounds a lot more dramatic than mine." I mumble to him.

"Allen Walker the 'destroyer of time'…" Bookman suddenly mumbles, and we all look over at him. "…And Bella Morrison the 'seer of time'."

"What do you think it means, gramps?" Lavi asks his mentor.

Silence.

I shift a little uncomfortably in my seat, feeling the unpleasant atmosphere spreading as everybody at the table waits for the old man to say something.

"I guess time will show." Bookman finally says, obviously keeping his theories to himself.

"Maybe the two predictions are connected somehow?" Lavi philosophizes, followed by a warning glance from Bookman, which makes Lavi go completely silent. _Bookman probably don't want Lavi discussing stuff like this with the rest of us._ Not liking the tense atmosphere that's starting to spread here, I take a last bite of my burger and put the rest of it over on Allen's plait.

"Can you finish that for me?" I ask him, standing up and walking out from the bench.

"Where are you going?" Allen asks, looking puzzled up from his food tower .

"I'll try to find the library, I feel like reading a book right now." I quickly answer him.

"I'll go with you, then." Lavi says, getting up from the bench. "I'm done eating anyway."

Bookman looks piercing over at Lavi again, but the redhead ignores the old man this time.

"I'll stop by your room later with your uniform, Bella." Johnny tells me, before Lavi and I leave the table in the cafeteria.

In silence we walk toward the library, Lavi leading the way, and I only make sure to pay half attention to where it is. At first I didn't really give Hevlaska's prediction that much thought, but now that I think about it, it is kind of a weird prediction, I mean what is it supposed to mean 'the seer of time'? Seeing through time… Does it mean I can see the future or something? It would make sense as I have read the manga, and so, knows what's going to happen – only for a set time though. _But does that mean she knows I'm from another world, or…?_ The thing is, I'm not really sure whether to tell people about that tiny fact or not. But there is something in my head – like a small voice – that just keeps telling me to stay quiet about it…

"Don't let it bother you too much." I suddenly hear Lavi say, ripping me out of my own thoughts. I look up at him with a blank face expression.

"Allen got his prediction like a year ago, and we still haven't figured out what it means, so don't crack up your brain too much about it, okay?" He smiles at me, trying to be encouraging. I just nod.

"So, this is the library." Lavi grins, as we enter a huge room with walls completely hidden behind enormous bookcases, filled up with all kinds of books. There are a few tables with matching chairs in the room and a black leather couch in one of the corners.

Lavi just marches right toward one of the big bookcases and start to look at some of the books there.

"You read books, Lavi?" I ask a little in disbelief, as I walk over to one of the other bookshelves. Somehow he doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who reads books.

"Of course I do, I'm a Bookman you know. In order to record history I kind of have to read, right?" He says, not really expecting an answer. "Although," he goes on, "I do like to read books that has nothing to do with wars and history once in a while." He pulls out a green book from the shelf, looking interested at its cover, before opening it up and turning the pages. "What kinds of books do you like to read, Bella?"

"Mostly fantasy." I answer him, still looking at the different books on the shelf. Lavi looks up from the book he is holding, and looks at me a little surprised.

"You like fantasy?" He asks in disbelief, and I can hear a little tilt of laughter in his voice.

"Yeah, so?" I snap a little annoyed. _What is wrong with me liking fantasy?_

"Don't know. You just seem like the kind of person who would be reading stuff like the daily-life of people or boring books about romance."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Lavi shrugs his shoulders.

"Well to your information, I, unlike everyone else here, just recently discovered my Innocence and before doing so, I used to have a normal life." I look over at Lavi who is just holding his gaze at me. I sigh. "I think most average people in the world miss having that feeling of 'thrill' or 'excitement' to their life – I know I did – which is why I have always loved reading books about fiction and fantasy, because it was the only thing in the world that could actually save me from my normal, boring life. Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us." I look back at the bookshelf, holding my gaze on a big, black book in front of me.

"Well, now you're here." Lavi says, and even though I can't see it, I think he is smiling. "Now you can have that 'excitement' in your life."

I just nod, a smile creeping onto my lips. I pull out the black book I have been looking at, and start to look through the pages in it.

"You know Bella," Lavi starts, dumping down on a near chair, "You're the exact opposite of every other exorcist here." He looks up at the gray ceiling.

"How so?"

"Well," he begins, "I think everyone else here who is compatible with Innocence, actually wishes for an average and boring life." He looks over at me, a bit of a questioning expression. I just shrug my shoulders.

"I guess it's just a natural thing," I mumble, still looking through the pages in the black book, "human beings wanting to have something they just can't get, or wanting to have the exact opposite of what they already have." I take a little pause. "Or wanting more than what they already have." _Huh? I basically just described the previous 'me' before I got here. Heh. This is like a real therapy session._

Silence.

I am waiting for Lavi to say something, and as the minutes passes by without him making any noise, I turn around to find him sitting and just looking at me with a wondering expression on his face, as if he is trying to figure something out.

"W-what?" I ask him, hating it when people stare at me for too long. Lavi continues to look at me wondering for a few more seconds before changing his face expression.

"Nothing." He grins at me, and then continues to look through the pages in the book he is holding. _Mental note number nine; Lavi is a weirdo._

I also turn back to looking through the pages in the big book, and I realize that it's about different kinds of myths and legends, a few of them I know already, but there are a lot I have never even heard of before. Actually finding this kind of stuff interesting, I decide to take it with me to my room, until I have the time and patience to find another book I can read.

And so, both of us feeling really tired, Lavi and I walk up to our rooms, and I find out that the room Lavi and Bookman sleeps in is only three doors away from my room, which is actually really nice knowing I am not staying in this hallway all by myself.

"Night." He says to me, right before walking into his and Bookman's room.

I put the big book of myths on my bedside table, and then start to change into my pajamas, a pair of shorts in cotton and an oversized t-shirt. Having changed, I throw myself down on my stomach at the soft bed and open up the book I just borrowed from the library, reading it for about fifteen minutes, before someone knocks on my door. Knowing it's Johnny with the finished uniform and training-clothes, I just tell him the door is open, being too lazy to walk over and open it up myself.

"Here you go Bella." He says as he places all of the very nicely amalgamated clothes on top of the chest of drawers and two pair of boots on the floor in front of it.

"Thanks Johnny." I thank him again, Johnny smiling warmly at me.

"Did you find something interesting to read?" He asks me, walking over to my bed to get a better look of the book I am reading. I move a little to the left, making space enough for Johnny to sit down on the bed beside me, which he gladly does, still looking interested at the book in front of me.

"It's about different myths." I answer him with a smile.

"That might actually come in handy some day." He laughs, still looking at the book.

"Maybe." I agree with him. Johnny puts his left finger on the page I am currently on, and then use his right hand to turn the pages, making sure not to lose track of the site I have made it to.

"It looks really interesting." He concludes, still turning the pages.

"You can just borrow it when I'm done with it."

"Yeah that'd be great, but honestly I don't think I have the time to read books, you know, with all the work I have to do."

"Alright, then I can just tell you the stories myself once in a while." I encourage him.

"That'd be great." Johnny exclaims, getting up from the bed.

"I should probably get to bed too." He smiles.

"Alright, good night then Johnny."

"Good night Bella." Johnny says, as he closes the door after him.

Feeling the tiredness taking over me, I put the book back on the bedside table and turn off the little lamp, and so, my second day at the Black Order is over.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter 5 is done! So every chapter will most likely be updated in the weekends from now (unless I _really_ feel like updating earlier and/or more than once a week). Like always, thank you to everyone who favorites, follows and reviews :)**

**A quick character insight:**

**So like some of you might (or might not) have noticed, Bella isn't that fond of confrontation and dealing with problems. Whenever some kind of problem occur, she tries to avoid it (like she did when Bookman asked about Hevlaska's prediction, and when Lavi commented that she might be the Heart). This is also the reason you haven't heard her think that much of the cloaked man that sent her in the first place, as she doesn't know how to deal with it, so she simply ignores it and pushes the thought aside. I wasn't really sure how to describe this besides through her actions, as it's something she does unconsciously. So I decided to write it in the author note.**

**Another thing you might have noticed is how Bella's mind is quite different from the way she acts. She acts (mostly) a bit neutral and/or is polite and smiley. This is obviously because she was just removed and thrown into a new environment. I think it's a pretty natural thing for an individual to want to give off a good first impression and be accepted quickly in these situations. I just wanted to point that out. So look forward to when Bella finally settles down, then her true (currently inner) personality will be shown – and most of her weird thoughts will be said aloud. **


	6. Mission Start: Once Upon A Time

**Disclaimer: As cool as it'd be, I sadly don't own D. Gray-man or any of its characters.**

* * *

I fumble a little around in my bed, falling in and out of a half-asleep state, until I finally pull myself together and get out of bed. Still not quite conscious, I just stumble around in my room, probably looking like a zombie trying to find some clean clothes and a hairbrush. I put on a pair of shorts and a white shirt, pulling up the sleeves to my elbows before putting on my shoes and walking out from my room, toward the girl's bathroom. I brush my teeth and go back to my own room with my stuff, before heading for the cafeteria, feeling my stomach starting to rumble.

* * *

I ask Jerry to make me some scrambled egg and some honeydew melon, while I try a little confused to look for the others. As Jerry finishes my tray of breakfast I luckily see Lavi sitting by himself at one of the tables.

"Where is everybody?" I ask, sitting down beside him on the bench.

"They have already eaten." Lavi laughs at me. "You're really slow in the morning, you know."

"I am _not_ a morning person." I say, making myself very clear. "Besides, you're here too Lavi. Doesn't that mean you're just as slow as me, then?" I ask him cheeky, taking a bite of my scrambled egg.

"Actually, I got up early today. While you were still asleep, I was out training for two hours and even got to take a shower after." He answers me even cheekier and then adds. "_And _I got here before you did."

"Well… it's because I don't have an alarm clock." I mumble, trying to put all the blame on the missing clock. Lavi just laughs at me.

"There you two are."

I look up from my meal to find Reever walking across the cafeteria toward Lavi and me.

"Hey Reever." Lavi greets the scientist, taking another bite of his bread. He stops in front of our table, holding a small stack of paper in his arms.

"You two have a mission." _Wait!_

"What!?" I exclaim, almost chocking on my egg. I lose my fork, coughing for air and trying to either throw up the egg or swallow it.

"Easy there." Lavi laughs, patting me on my bag.

"You okay, Bella?" Reever asks me a little worried. I just nod, still coughing a bit though. _Mental note number ten; don't choke on food in public. It's awkward for everybody._

"Mission?" I look up at him. Reever nods, smiling.

"Don't worry, I saw you at training yesterday, and I'm pretty sure you're ready for your first mission." He answers me. _That was training mate…_

"At any rate, finish up your breakfast and go get changed and then meet up in the Supervisor's office in twenty minutes." Reever says, looking at Lavi and me before leaving again. Hurriedly, we finish our breakfast, turning in the dishes at Jerry's worktop, and then walk to the second floor.

"Nervous?" Lavi asks me, stopping in front of the door that leads to my room.

"A little bit, maybe." I mumble, looking at the door handle. _What do you expect? As far as I know, people get killed on missions – and I literally just got here two days ago!_

"Well, hurry up and get changed and then we'll go to Komui's office." He says, walking a few meters down the hall to his own room. I just nod before walking in to my own room.

* * *

So my uniform pretty much consist of the same black, tight jacket with silver trimmings and the Rose Cross by the chest as all other uniforms – though the sleeves on mine are remarkably larger from the elbow and down (Johnny said it would be easier for me to use my Innocence this way apparently). He also made me a pair of fingerless gloves to keep my fingers from getting bruised and a pair of large, brown boots. From there on though it got a bit tricky, as Johnny (for some reason) really wanted me to wear a skirt – and though I'll admit it looks cute when Lenalee jumps around in one of those things – I don't exactly see myself fighting in a bloody miniskirt (what if I jump and someone sees my underwear? How Lenalee avoids that is a mystery to me). So I got him to meet me halfway, meaning I'm now stuck with some thigh-long, black leggings and a skirt that is ripped on either side of the thigh. Not really sure how to feel about it to be honest.

"This is going to take a while to put on." I mumble, looking at one of the knee-length boots, with one long lace, starting from the middle of the foot and then goes all the way up to the end of the boot. I try to look for some kind of hidden zipper, which I don't find, and sighing I put on each boot with a little difficulty. _Not exactly convenient if I have to hurry some time. _

Finishing each damn shoelace, I jump up from the bed, stretching my arms and limbs to get used to the uniform, realizing how incredibly comfortable it actually is, surprisingly enough even more comfortable than the clothes we train in, if that's even possible.

* * *

Without even knocking, Lavi just walks right into Komui's office, followed by me, being a little more discrete and hesitant. Komui just smiles at us though, Reever standing behind him, holding some papers. Lavi heads right for the couch, dumping down on it beside of Kanda, who is also wearing his uniform. The blue-haired exorcist is just looking quite uninterested the other way, obviously trying to ignore Lavi. _I guess Rapunzel is coming too. Hallelujah – I hope that means my chance of survival will increase. _

"Please Bella, sit down." Komui offers. Completely lost in my own thoughts, I jump a little in surprise before sitting down on the couch.

"So," Komui begins, looking at me, "I know this is your first mission Bella, and you must be really nervous, but please don't worry too much." He smiles friendly to me, and then looks over at Lavi and Rapunzel. "Besides, you will have both Lavi and Kanda with you, and they are both very skilled exorcists."

"Why, thank you." Lavi grins mischievously; Kanda just ignores the compliment, still looking the other way.

"At any rate, I'm going to give you a quick summary of the mission, and then we'll send you off." Komui points over at the papers Reever is holding. "More detailed information is held on the forms Reever will be giving to you as you move out."

I just nod, letting Komui know I got everything so far, and he takes a sip of his coffee, before starting his summary of the mission.

"There is a high possibility that we have discovered Innocence in Sarnico, which is a small city located by Italy's fourth largest lake, Lake Iseo." Komui begins, pulling in a string, making a big map appear and he points at our destination – Italy.

"You haven't confirmed it yet?" Kanda growls, now looking at Komui.

"Not quite." Komui answers Kanda's question. "The thing is, we did in fact send a few Finders out to confirm the presence of the Innocence."

"However," Komui goes on, now looking very serious at all three of us, "we haven't heard anything from any of the Finders we have sent off, meaning they have likely been killed or for some reason can't get in contact with headquarters."

"By Akuma?" Lavi asks. Komui nods, answering Lavi's question.

"In this case, it is highly likely that there is Innocence involved."

Reever hands out the paper to us, and feeling a little creeped out, I look through the three pieces of paper. _Nice first mission… he couldn't have sent us somewhere with flying ponies and pink bears eating marshmallows? _

"Your job is to destroy the possible enemy and secure the Innocence." Komui finally says, making the order very clear.

"Got it." Lavi mumbles, him and Rapunzel getting up from the couch and following Reever who is about to head out of the room. Not wanting to get left behind, I hurriedly get up from the couch and run after them, but get stopped by Komui blocking my way. I look a little confused up at him, thinking for a second that he might have actually changed his mind about letting me go on this mission.

"Good luck, Bella." He just smiles at me, lightly patting me on the head before stepping aside to let me pass. _I guess he really does worry about all of us._ I think as I run after the other three guys.

"Oh, there you are." Lavi says as I run up beside him, Kanda walking on the other side of him and Reever leading the way through the big hallways, into an entirely new part of the building that I have never been in before.

"This is the White Ark." Reever tells me, stopping in front of a huge white portal-like thing, placed in a room, filled up with hardworking scientists. He quickly explains to me how they got their hands on it and how it works.

"What about the route?" Lavi asks Reever, completely changing the subject.

"You will take the Gate to Brescia and then from there take a train to Sarnico, which is a ride on approximately thirty minutes. A Finder is already waiting for you by the Gate in Brescia." Reever answers Lavi's question.

"Alright, heads up you three!" Reever says, now speaking to all of us. "The Gate will open in twenty seconds. Now remember, it's Gate number 32 okay?"

I just nod, not quite understanding what he means, but hopefully Lavi and Kanda know what he is talking about. Reever points over at the Ark Gate, where the number 32 suddenly appears right above it.

"Permission to enter."

I look over at Kanda, who walks right toward the big white Gate, not even hesitating the slightest as he walks into it, literally disappearing in mid-air as if there is an invisible room. As Kanda completely disappears through the white Gate, Lavi follows right after, vanishing along with him. And I, being completely taken aback from seeing this, (despite having read the manga) just stand here totally bewildered, and Reever actually have to come over and gently give me a little push in the back, to make me go through it.

"Good luck!" He yells after me, as I a little hesitant walk through the Gate.

It really is the same as walking through a door, from one room to another. On the other side of the Gate, I enter a huge unpopulated city with a kind of Mediterranean-style, all of the buildings being completely white. There are a few flowers and green plants here and there, and for a minute I just stand here in the bright alley, staring at the unbelievably beautiful city.

"It was Gate 32, right?" I hear Kanda ask from somewhere behind me, Lavi answering his question a little after with a simple 'yes'.

"Then it's right over there." Kanda says still in his, probably, permanent foul mood. I turn around to find Lavi following Kanda, heading toward one of the billions of white doors; the only thing different about this one though, is that the number 32 is floating above it. I run after the two exorcists, barely making it up behind Lavi as Kanda opens up the door and walks through it, followed by Lavi. I let myself have a last glance of the stunning city, before running through the Gate, before it closes again.

"Where are we?" I ask a little nervous, honestly thinking we went through the wrong Gate or something, as I step into a ruin-like town. It doesn't seem to be very big, but the old, cracking houses are telling me the town must have been abandoned for a while now. It's dead quiet too with an exception for some really scary cracking noises coming from the old buildings.

"The old town of Brescia." An unfamiliar voice answers my question, and I move a little to the left, looking past Kanda, in order to see who it is. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if it were a ghost or something like that. Luckily it isn't.

"I am Kie." The Finder in his mid-twenties smiles at me. He is pretty tall, almost as tall as Komui, and he have shaggy blond hair, and of course, wearing the long beige-colored jacket, that all of the Finders have to wear.

"Nice to meet you, my name -" I start, wanting to greet him as politely as possible, but gets interrupted by Kanda.

"Save the introductions for later, we're on a mission now." He growls, sounding just as cold-hearted as he looks like. _Why does he have to be so rude? _Rapunzel turns around, looking over at Kie. "Where is the way out of this place?"

"This way." The Finder answers, pointing down one of the small streets, before starting to lead us the way out of this abandoned town. One thing is for sure; I would have never found my way out of this place on my own. I probably would have had a heart attack before making it halfway, if I were by myself.

Luckily Kie knows his way around in this place, which I suppose is his job after all, and eventually after about ten minutes we finally make it to the outside of the town. I stare in awe as we are now standing in the outskirts of the _real_ part of Brescia. It's situated at the foot of the Alps, and is a lot larger than I had imagined. It's also a lot brighter and livelier than the old part of town we just came from.

"So, what now?" I ask, starring in wonder as we slowly make it into the town. Kids are running around playing, while a lot of the adults are buying and selling stuff by a market.

"There is a train station in the other end of the town." Kie answers me, picking up his speed. "But we have to hurry, if we don't want to miss the train."

And so, we start jogging toward the station, which then eventually turns into sprinting after the train, because the train is about to depart, and we barely catch it, all of us literally having to jump aboard the train as it drives away from the station (never doing that again by the way).

I bent over, panting heavily as one of the train conductors comes over, looking really taken aback because of the fact that four citizens just illegally jumped on the train.

"E-excuse me, passengers. This is the 1st class coupé and normal citizens are supposed to be in the 2nd class. Besides you just came in like-" He starts, but Kie interrupts him.

"We are the black priests. Please get a room ready."

The conductor looks a little confused at all four of us, before noticing the Rose Cross on Kanda's uniform.

"Y-yes, sir!" He bows, before showing us the way down through the train, stopping in front of one of the many red doors, leading to a coupe. I follow Kanda and Lavi into the room; Kie closes the door after us, but stays on the other side of the door out in the hallway.

"Isn't he coming into the coupé with us?" I ask, sitting down beside of Lavi, Kanda sitting across from us.

"Finders are just here to support us exorcists. They don't need the same treatment as us." Kanda answers cold, pulling out the papers Reever gave us before departure. _Wow, that's kind of harsh._ I glance over at Lavi, who is also sitting and skimming through the sheds of papers. He notices my glance and finishes the last page, before looking up, turning toward me.

"So," he begins, "according to the information Reever gave us, there are apparently theories of a church being cursed in the town we're headed to."

"Cursed, how?" I ask, already feeling the hair on the back of my neck rising.

"Something about people entering the church and then not returning." Lavi looks out the window.

"Sounds like a load of crap to me." Kanda mumbles.

"Komui said that they hadn't heard anything from any of the Finders they had sent off to the town, right?" I ask, looking at both Kanda and Lavi. Lavi nods.

"Then they could be trapped in the church or something." I go on, trying to philosophize over the head-scratcher.

"Probably, but we can't jump to conclusions." Lavi answers me, still looking out the window.

"It was just a theory." I murmur to myself under the uniform's collar.

"Apparently," I suddenly hear Kie say, coming from the other side of the door, "a priestess used to live in the church 5 years ago. She was described as a stunningly beautiful young woman, with a talent for singing."

I shift a little to be able to hear what he says better, and so does Lavi. Kanda is sitting completely still though, his left leg crossed over his right.

"Every midnight, the priestess would ring the bell at the tower of the church, while singing out a certain song. Some of the townsfolk even used to stay up all night and come to the church, only with the intentions of wanting to hear the young priestess's beautiful voice. She was said to be the small towns 'light'. However she died of disease while she was still quite young. Even though she died, the same bell she had used to ring every single night while singing, for some reason, never stopped ringing during midnight. Since the priestess was the only one who lived at the church, it is quite a mystery as to why the bell keeps ringing, despite the church being completely abandoned. Lots of townsfolk have entered the church, trying to find the source for this, however, none of them ever returned from the church. People eventually started to call the church cursed and no one has dared to even go near it for years now."

I shiver as Kie finishes the story, small goose bumps starting to take form on my body. I start to mumble out swears and curses in my own language, mainly targeting Komui for sending me on such a creepy first mission, _I mean come on_, why does it have to be something about old cursed churches, I bet there are going to be lots of graveyards too! It's common sense never to seek out the truth about things involving dead people and cursed things.

"Komui din narrøv." I finally snarl at Komui, before I notice that I'm getting a weird look from Lavi and Kanda.

"What did you just say?" Lavi laughs a little confused. I just shrug my shoulders, looking the other way so that none of them will see me blushing.

"Nothing in particular…"

"At any rate," Lavi moves on, Kanda looking out the window still with an uninterested face expression, "maybe the theory about the Finders being trapped inside the church isn't that much off after all, Bella." I look over at Lavi, who is now looking out the window like Kanda, philosophizing over our new mission. I just nod a little pleased with myself.

Suddenly realizing that Kie has been quiet for a little while now, I start to feel sorry for him, having to sit outside the coupé and all, so I decide to get up and talk a little with him on the other side of the door.

The blond Finder looks up at me a little confused, as I come out from the coupé. He is sitting on the floor, right beside the door; so I let myself slowly slide down on the black carpet beside him. Even though I don't remember ever hearing much about Finders in the manga, it somehow feels like I have seen Kie a couple of times before. I try to search through my brain for any memory of this guy, as fast as I can, but nothing comes to my mind, and I end up eventually giving up.

"So, for how long have you been in the order, Kie?" I finally ask him. His face instantly lights up, this is probably one of the few times an exorcist asks a Finder personal questions.

"I came here a few months ago." He says, smiling just as bright as a little kid on Christmas Eve. "I used to work for the owner of a large brothel in China which secretly supported the Black Order, along with Chaoji." _That's right!_ I totally remember now. The entire story gets a free run in my head, before Kie starts to tell it.

"My boss, Anita, helped the exorcists get to Japan by ship. During the trip though, Akuma attacked us on the ship, resulting in almost everyone losing their lives during the attack. Thanks to the exorcists, Chaoji, me and another friend of ours, survived the battle, and not long after we discovered that Chaoji had Innocence, resulting in all of us joining the Order, Chaoji becoming an exorcist and Maosa and me becoming Finders." _Wow._

"It's nice of you two to come all the way to the Black Order, just so that Chaoji wouldn't have to join all by himself." I say, making sure to smile at Kie, who just smiles back at me.

"Well, we couldn't just leave Chaoji by himself like that."

I smile softly at Kie's words, turning my head slightly to look out the window on the wall across from me, when I suddenly realize something. My eyes completely fixated on the window, I get up from the floor and walk toward it, feeling Kie's gaze following me as I stop in front of the train's window. A thick gray fog is starting to appear outside, only getting deeper as the train continues to move into it, making it seem like it's already night-time, though I'm sure it's still afternoon.

"Kie, look at this." I mumble, not letting my eyes draw aside even for a second as Kie gets up and walks over beside me.

"We must be getting close to Sarnico now." He tells me, only taking a quick glance out the window, before going back to the spot where he sat, this time he stands up though.

Fearing something might actually appear in the dark forest outside – which by the way is really hard to get a good look at because of the fog – I just stand completely still in front of the window, keeping a good eye on it, while slightly touching the fans in the back of my belt, ready to strike any moment if something happens. I swear, I have never seen anything like this, the fog just keeps getting more and more thick as the minutes pass by, and eventually I barely can't see the trees of the forest anymore. Suddenly though, I notice a little sheen of light ahead of us, and as the train closes in on it, I realize that it's the light coming from a small town.

Not quite having made it to the city yet, the train stops, and Kie gets up and opens the door to the room Lavi and Kanda is sitting in, telling them we have arrived. A little annoyed with the train not escorting us all the way _into_ the town, I follow the three guys out from the train, we being the only ones who have to get off here, and the train drives away, disappearing into the fog during seconds.

_I'm gonna die…_

Sighing I walk behind Kie, leading the way, and I make sure to be in the middle of Kanda and Lavi, just in case something sneaks up on us, they're the ones who is going to be taken first. One time, I accidently scream out in shock, as Kanda steps on a loose stick, making Lavi tease me the rest of the way to the town by scaring me and speaking in different creepy, dark voices.

_I might not even make it to the town alive…_

* * *

**A/N: Yes! Bella is finally going on her first mission. This'll be fun as she tends to be a bit jumpy, overdramatic and underestimates herself from time to time. Thanks for reading, and thanks to those of you who adds this story as favs, story alert and reviews. I love getting advice and feedback so please keep it up :)**

**Translation:**

- Din narrøv: You asshole (yep, Bella just called Komui an asshole)


	7. The Cursed Church Within the Silent Town

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.**

* * *

After a walk for what feels like ages, with Lavi almost startling me to death every second (yelling stuff like, "Look Bella, it's the Boogeyman!") and Kanda snarling and shouting at us for being too loud, we eventually make it to the inside of the foggy town. I look around a little puzzled; the town seeming close to abandoned, only a few people are actually walking around on the old-looking streets, a lot of the houses have started to crumble and falter. This entire town just seems down around empty, and I don't think it's because of the fog that people stay inside doors.

"What now?" I ask, having vexed feelings mainly targeting creepiness and feeling lost.

"We should probably ask the villagers for information." Kie answers me. _Good luck with that._ "We'll split up and meet back here once it gets dark." He finally adds. _It's already dark mate. _I look from Lavi to Kanda, hoping at least one of them will disagree with Kie about this, but they both just nod, completely agreeing with him.

"T-then shouldn't we split up in two groups?" I ask, trying to somehow find a way to get around not having to be in this town by myself.

"We'll get more information if we _all four _split up." Kanda says, putting extra pressure on 'all four'. I sigh, feeling the hopelessness take over. _Yeah I'm not that fond of creepy, abandoned towns._

"I can just walk along with Miss Bella." Kie suddenly says, followed by an irritated look from Kanda, probably thinking it's pathetic how I can't even take care of myself. To my relief, Lavi agrees with this, and so, we walk into three different directions hoping to get more information.

It turns out as I thought; it is a lot harder finding information about this so called 'cursed church'. Whenever Kie and I actually find a villager to ask, we only end up with things we already knew beforehand. As it slowly starts to become dark, we go back to the meeting place, completely empty-handed.

* * *

"So, did you two find anything useful?" Kie asks Kanda and Lavi. We are currently sitting in a small inn, which besides us is completely empty. I look over at Lavi beside me and then at Kanda on the other side of the table.

"Nope. Nothing we didn't already know beforehand." Lavi answers us, leaning back in the black bench, putting both of his arms on the backrest. Kanda shakes his head a little also answering Kie's question.

"Neither did we." I sigh as a tired-looking waiter comes over with four bowls of spaghetti with meatballs, which was the only thing they had here. Feeling the sudden hunger from not having gotten any lunch today, I happily start eating the spaghetti, which tastes fine, but not anywhere near as good as Jerry's, and so does everybody else, accept from Kanda. A little confused I look up at the grumpy exorcist.

"You're not going to eat?" I ask a little puzzled. He just looks the other way, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Yu doesn't eat anything else but soba." Lavi laughs, his mouth full of food. _That's right. I completely forgot._

"Even though I didn't get any information," Lavi begins a little more serious now, "one of the villagers told me where the church is. I think we're gonna have to check it out eventually – with or without any new information."

"I guess there is nothing else for us to do at this point." Kie says. I just nod, not liking the idea of going to a place where people have been disappearing for years now.

"We have to be around when the bell rings, though." Kanda interposes, obviously listening to the conversation even though his face tells otherwise sometimes. "This has something to do with either the bell or the deceased priestess."

"This all happened _after _the priestess died, right?" I ask to no one in particular, I just need to see if my theory is correct. Both Kie and Lavi nods to my question, Kanda just looks at me with a blank face expression.

"She was also quite young; had her whole life ahead of her." I go on in a more concluding tone now. "Then, maybe her spirit just haven't found salvation yet, and so she keeps on haunting the church by ringing the bell every night." I look at everyone at the table, all three of them thinking a little bit, before Lavi says something.

"It's a nice theory, but it's just a little too superstitious for it to be true." _Sure, the thought of ghosts is too superstitious, but weird superpowers given to people by God and Akuma being born from the sadness of human beings is not?_ A little annoyed I shrug my shoulders, finishing up my meal, before I lean back in the bench. _Hypocrites…_

"At any rate," Kie says, also finishing up his meal, "it's getting dark, and if we want to investigate the church before it becomes midnight, we should get going."

Lavi, Kanda and I walk outside while Kie pays for the bill, and when I say 'pay' I mean he just tells the waiter that the Black Order will charge for us. And so, we follow Lavi, leading the instructed way to the church, which turns out to be at the outskirts of the town. As we walk through the small alleys I notice the fog has started to lift up, now revealing a white-shining perfectly round full moon on the sky. The stars aren't visible though, because of the dark clouds floating back and forth, sometimes completely covering up the moon, and honestly this reminds me of a scene that would appear in some kind of werewolf-horror movie. _Don't you dare throw werewolves at me._

I make sure to only stand a few inches away from Kanda as we stop in front of the huge abandoned church, behind us a small and untouched harbor is placed, with no ships whatsoever at it. The church has been made solely of black bricks, and two brown towers are raging above it. I let my eyes rest on the tower longest away from us, which looks to be the one where the bell is hanging, but the distance and the darkness of the night is keeping me from actually confirming it. I then glance over at the enormous brown door, a round clock is hanging above it, and I am going to assume that it has stopped working given the fact that the hour hand is pointing at two and the minute hand is pointing at five. Suddenly Kanda moves forward, making me yank a little in surprise, and as fast as possible, I move over to Lavi.

"The villagers said that the priestess is buried here." Kanda says, as he walks up toward the church, and then turns around. "Well, are you coming?" He snaps irritated. To my horror, Lavi and Kie walks after Kanda, kind of forcing me to go along with them.

_That's a great idea! Let's check out the place where our diseased main suspect is lying._

We walk past the church, on the other side of it a big graveyard, probably untouched for years, is standing with hundreds of old gravestones.

"The priestess's name was Daniela Miazzi." Kie says, somehow telling us to look for that name. I end up grabbing a hold of Lavi's sleeve, following him around as I don't dare to be by myself, walking from stone to stone and reading the names of each deceased person, before Kie calls out for us, saying he found the priestess. We run up to the gravestone he is standing in front of, which actually looks to be one of the more newly made stones. I let my eyes run across the writing, confirming that this is the place where the diseased priestess is buried as I read _Daniela Miazzi_ and below that a year and date that isn't readable.

"Are we going to dig up the corpse?" I ask, trying to hide the disgust and fear in my voice. I look up at Lavi, who lightly shakes his head, before squatting down in front of the gravestone, making me let go of his sleeve. He slides his gloved hand over the earth in front of the stone.

"I don't sense anything." He mumbles, then looks up at Kanda with a speculating face.

"Then let's check out the church." Kanda finally says, after having stood a little in silence. Lavi gets up, nodding, and then we all go the same way around the church, course for the door this time.

"EXCORCISTS." A robotic voice suddenly grins out above us.

"Akuma!" Kanda shouts. I have barely lifted my head to look up, before I see a big three-headed metal creature, fly right toward Lavi and I, so fast I can't react to this in any way possible.

But Lavi can.

The redhead quickly reaches down to the holster at his thigh, grapping the small metal hammer as he with his other hand pulls me behind him.

"Big hammer, little hammer!" He raises the hammer above his head. "Grow! Grow!" The size of his hammer increases at the same rate as he yells. "GROW!" He throws the hammer down in front of us, just as the Akuma shoots down at us with the two missiles growing out from it's back and the hammer, now having grown five times bigger than Lavi himself, shields both of us from being hit in the last second. _Sweet mother of nature that was too close!_

The three-headed Akuma stops its attack, looking a little annoyed and confused at the big hammer, and Lavi takes this into his advantage. Without any hesitation Lavi charges right for the Akuma, raising the hammer way above his head. Before the Akuma can react to this, Lavi throws his hammer on top of it, completely squashing the Akuma against the ground, which starts to shake as the heavy metal hammer dumps onto it.

I sigh out in relief, but immediately regret it as I see another Akuma, this one shaped like an enormous bird, charge right for Lavi. Panicking, I am about to call out for Lavi but he has already seen it and raises his weapon again, swinging it against the Akuma and hitting it with such violent force that the Akuma explodes in mid-air.

Not quite having gotten a grasp of the current situation we're in, I stumble back in fright and panic, and look over at Kanda; Kie having moved completely out of the way for him. The blue-haired exorcist pulls a long, sharp katana up from the holster by his side, as an Akuma having taken the shape of a knight, comes toward him.

"Mugen, activate." Activating his weapon, Kanda swings it around once, and then quickly cuts the knight in two pieces, followed by cutting down two other Akuma behind it.

"Bella!" I jump in surprise as I hear someone shout out my name and I turn around to find Lavi a few yards away, swinging his hammer at another Akuma.

"There is more coming, Bella! Activate your weapon!" He shouts, pointing up at something in the sky. I follow his hand and see to my horror a herd of Akuma coming this way. I can feel my heart beating with the same speed of that of a rabbit, and my hands are close to shaking out of pure terror for the creatures approaching us.

"There might be many, but they're only level 2." Kanda growls a few yards behind me, making me eye him with disbelief. _Only level 2? But I have only fought level 1's upon till now!_

I take a deep breath to try and calm myself down, grabbing both of my fans in the back of my belt. _Activate! _Slightly they both glow green for a second as they are being activated.

I run up to Lavi's side as the first Akuma in the herd charges for us, and I throw the fan in my right hand at it, the fan flies in an oval line like a boomerang, passing the card-shaped Akuma and completely disappearing behind it.

"Ha, you missed!" It grins at me mockingly. But I just smirk back.

"Not quite."

Before the Akuma can perceive it the black fan comes flying back, and it flies right through the Akuma, making a big gapping hole appear in the middle of it, right before the Akuma explodes. I catch the fan with my right hand as it comes back to me, feeling quite proud of myself.

"Nice going there." Lavi smiles at me, before gently pushing me aside. "But we need to get rid of them all at once before they spread out."

I look up at the herd; some of the Akuma have already started to disappear in different directions. I glance back to Lavi who has now raised his hammer above his head again.

"Innocence, Level 2. Release."

I look fascinated as several green circles with different signs inside them surrounds Lavi in a bigger circle.

"Hellfire and ash." He mumbles as he hits one of the stamps with the hammer, the encircled sign taking form on the hammer where he hit it. He swings the hammer around one time, before making a light jump in the air, placing both of his hands on the metal handle, he swings the hammer at the ground with brutal force, making the same stamp appear on the grass, only ten times bigger than before. I take a few steps back to get out of the encircled sign just as Lavi lands on the edge of it.

"Fire seal!"

A huge torrent of flames, slowly taking the form of a gigantic snake, comes out from the stamp. It swirls around in the air, before Lavi points at the herd of Akuma. Following Lavi's orders in one swift move, the snake charges right for the Akuma, opening up its mouth and completely swallowing all of them up, before slowly disappearing again, leaving no trace of the Akuma behind.

"That was amazing." I stare up in awe at the disappearing snake, completely taken aback.

"Yeah, but don't relax yet." Lavi walks over beside me, looking up at the sky. "There are still some left."

"Son of a-!"

I turn around along with Lavi, as I hear Kanda snarling. A 7 feet tall bipedal creature with jagged teeth and wearing, what looks like, medieval red armor covering it's entire body, is standing with a raised fist above Kanda's head, Kanda defending himself from the clenched fist with his sword.

"Level 3!" Lavi exclaims, charging right at it with a raised weapon, ready to help Kanda. The level 3 pulls back its fist, and dodges the swinging hammer in the last second.

"I'll be going then." It grins, suddenly disappearing across the church. I blink a little in confusion, never having seen anything move so fast before, but I get proven wrong as Kanda at least as fast, passes by me.

"Kanda!" I exclaim, suddenly feeling really slow myself.

"It's heading for the graveyards!" He yells back, not slowing down even for a second. "If the Innocence really is there, we can't let them have it!"

Wanting to help Kanda I try to run after him, but a new shark-looking Akuma blocks my way. Before I can react to this, the Akuma takes the opportunity and punches me with a clenched fist right in the stomach so hard I fly backward, Lavi catching me right before I hit the hard stonewall on the church. I cough out in pain, while at the same time panting for air; all of the oxygen in my lungs was just punched out.

"Bella, are you okay?" Lavi asks, putting me down on the ground, as he is forced to turn around to kill the damn thing. Knowing I can't just slack off while Lavi do all the work, I trembling get on my feet, as I suddenly realize something.

In between ragged breaths, I let the entire mission have a free run in my head, very thoroughly thinking about each piece of information we have gotten about the church.

In the moment the priestess died the bell started to ring by itself, followed by the villagers _entering_ the church and _then_ disappearing. Daniela lies buried _outside_ the church, and the bell is _inside _the church. If Daniela herself had the Innocence, it would have stopped activating in the moment she died, but instead it obviously began to somehow activate even more.

A little irritated I never actually realized this, I mentally face palm myself. It's the bell that has the Innocence; I mean come on it's so obvious! I cannot believe I never saw this, even though all of the evidence pointed toward this, I just kept thinking it had something to do with Daniela not having found salvation yet.

Finally starting to feel better, I look around to see more Akuma coming toward us, this time from various sides, and I know that telling Lavi and Kie this now would only cause all of the Akuma to head right for the bell at the tower.

"Lavi!"

A little surprised at my sudden outburst, Lavi turns around to look at me. "You can take care of the Akuma by yourself, right?"

Even though I already know he can kill them by himself, I still want to confirm it. A little puzzled Lavi nods to my question and I can see he is about to open up his mouth to say something, probably to ask what for. But I know that this will be my only chance before another attack is coming, and so I turn around on my heels, and run the last way up to the huge entrance at the church. I take a firm grip on each of the door handles and with all of my strength; pull up the heavy doors, which quite unwillingly opens with a high creek and I run inside the church, before they close again.

_Dark._

Everything is completely black. I stand still, waiting for my eyes to get used to the dark. A few minutes pass by, as I listen to the fight outside between Lavi, Kanda and the Akuma, and when I finally get a grasp of my surroundings I take a few steps forward. On the other side of the room, a golden altar is placed, above it is hanging a black cross with Jesus in front. I let my gaze follow the cross and then up the ceiling, closely looking at the different patterns of ornaments on it, almost looking as if they're telling a story. Slowly I start to walk down the aisle, letting my right hand slide across the old pews being made solely of tree. Suddenly I stop though, seeing that something is sitting on one of the pews closest to the altar.

And I realize I'm not alone in here.

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! I like cliffhangers, they make it more suspenseful. Also, i just realized how much of a scaredy-cat Bella actually is. Hopefully she'll get over that soon enough. Thanks for reading, hope you liked it :D **


	8. One Creepy Clown and a Glowing Wrench?

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. gray-man**

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I stumble back in fright as I see the four, cloaked figures sitting ahead of me, completely still. Ready to kill whatever it is, I get in a fighting position, holding a firm grip on each of my fans. Slowly I take one step at a time toward them, starting to feel a little puzzled about the fact that they haven't turned around yet, I mean I haven't exactly been quiet. As I get closer, getting a better look of them, I notice the beige-colored cloaks looks awfully a lot like the one Kie is wearing. _Finders? _

"H-hey! Are you alright?"

I lower my weapon as I run over to the four Finders, still sitting completely still and not answering my question. A little confused I lightly put my hand on the shoulder of the Finder closest to me, as I walk up beside him.

"What the-"

As I finally see their faces, I end up jerking in shock. Even though their eyes are wide open, the pupils are somehow frightening big, making it seem like they are all in some sort of trance. I let my eyes slide down to the Finder's chest, confirming that he is still alive as I see it rise and fall, indicating that he is breathing.

"H-hey…" With a firmer grip now, I try to shake some life into him, doing it more and more violently as he doesn't respond to this, even coming to the point where I with the palm of my hand, slap him so hard across the face that a red shape of my hand appears on his cheek. But he doesn't respond at all, and neither do any of the other Finders.

Feeling completely lost I take a few steps back, trying to figure out what to do with them, as I suddenly trip over something and with a loud bump fall to the floor, a sting of pain being thrown up my coccyx. A little annoyed with this I reach out for whatever it is I just fell over, thoroughly looking at the hard smooth and white object in my hand. Feeling a sting of fright in my stomach, I slowly glance down at the same crunching objects beneath me before I actually realize what it is.

I scream out of fright, throwing away the white object in my hand, as I stumble on my feet and in disgust walk back from the huge pile of now crushed old bones. And to my horror I realize that this isn't just some random bones from animals, as I see a broken skull shaped like that of a human's.

_Oh my god, I think I'm gonna puke._ I take another step back as I see a lot more bones - uncrushed though. _1…2…3…4…_ I count up to twelve more human skeletons; spread all over the church floor, a few of them is placed on the pews.

Feeling my stomach tossing and turning, I stumble over to the corner of the church closest to me, and let all of the food I have ingested today come back up until there is nothing left but a stinging and burning liquid. I cough out, standing in a bended position and making sure everything got up, as I suddenly feel a presence behind me.

I turn around in the last second to find a clown-shaped Akuma standing right in front of me, right before it grabs my arm with it's long, sharp fingers and throws me across the church, making me hit the wall so hard that a crumbing mark is left behind. I groan in pain as it comes toward me with a raised razor-sharp hand, a menacing grin on its face.

"DIE EXCORCIST!"

I bent down in my knees right before the clown throws its hand toward my head, dodging its attack in the last second. I glance up at its hand, which is now stuck in the wall because of the enormous force, and I take this as my opportunity to swoop under the arm of the Akuma, running toward the pile of bones where I left my fans when I tripped.

Picking up my weapon, I turn around to face the nightmarish-clown. I throw the fan in my right hand at it, making it fly right toward the Akuma's head, but with its unstuck razor-hand, the Akuma avoids my attack by punching away the fan, making a high metallic squeak as they hit each other. I run a little to the left, catching my fan.

"Your weapon won't have any effect on me, exorcist." The clown grins at me, before with a little difficulty pulling out the hand in the wall. Mockingly he raises both of the metal claws at me, while sticking out his tongue. "My hands are solely made of iron. Your little fans can't possibly break them."

_Argh, for craps sake…_

I grit my teeth together in annoyance, knowing what he says is probably true. At this rate, the fight is going to end in a tie between our weapons. And if this battle has to be settled in a fist-to-fist fight, I think I'll be the one to loose.

Desperately I try to search through my brain for any kind of ideas, as a loud _dong_ suddenly rumbles through the church. I look a little puzzled around, trying to find the source for the sound as I suddenly hear it again and then again, before it hits me. _It's the church bell._ The bell in the church has started to ring, because it's midnight.

Fascinated I listen to the calming sound of the bell, as I realize it isn't just clanging randomly like a church bell usually does, but it's ringing some sort of melody. And somehow it feels like I have heard it before…

Suddenly a buzzing sort of noise is overwhelming the room, and I look behind me, over at the four Finders who are now sitting and humming along on the melody the bell is ringing.

"Miss Bella!"

I jump in surprise as I suddenly hear someone calling out for me, and I turn around toward the door leading to the outside to find Kie walking through the entrance. Realizing that I'm in the middle of a fight, I hurriedly call out for him.

"Kie, don't come in here!"

The Finder looks a little confused at me. His eyes dilates in shock as he looks to the site, noticing the Akuma on the other side of the room, before his face goes completely blank and he just stops abruptly.

"What are you doing? Get out of here!" I yell at him, but he just stands completely still, before getting the same dead-looking wide eyes like the other four Finders have. He walks right across the aisle, passing by me and then dumps down on one of the pews beside the other Finders. _What…?_

"What's wrong with you?" I mumble, feeling my stomach squirm with worry and confusion as I look after Kie, who is now trying to hum along on the melody.

"H-hey! Kie!" I try to reach out for him, but something grabs my arm before I can get a grip of him. A sudden pain is shot through my arm, coming from the place where I was grabbed right above my elbow.

I turn around to see the razor-sharp claws of the clown, having buried itself in my left arm; a red warm liquid has started to run down my arm, dripping and staining the floor. Before I can yank back my arm, the Akuma throws me across the church again, this time though I manage to break the fall by staying on my feet. The bell has been playing for a few minutes now, and I know the song is nearing its end, meaning I have to hurry up and finish this fight off if I want to find out the truth about the bell and the Innocence. Still thinking for ideas on how to beat the Akuma, I suddenly remember something I was told when the cloaked guy gave it to me:

"_This weapon is solely made from your memories. It is made out of your own ideas on how you have always wanted it to function. Look deep inside your mind and remember what your own thoughts was of this Innocence." _

Letting the words have a free run in my head, I slowly start to remember everything of how I wanted my Innocence to possess elemental attacks with different seals and levels, even coming as far as writing it all down on a piece of paper that I then hid under my bed. If my weapon functions _that_ way, I already know how to exercise the Akuma. _Guess it can't hurt to try._ Holding a firm grip on both of the fans now, I raise my arms a little.

"First opening, First seal." I swing both of my arms, holding a tight grip on my weapon, as a vortex of wind is made from the fans, having course right for the clown and trapping it inside a huge whirlwind. Small cuts are starting to appear on the Akuma all over its body, coming from the vortex.

"What is this!?" Aggressively the Akuma tries to run away from the cutting vortex, but it just follows him around, not stopping its attack even for a second. Deciding I need to finish this quickly before the bell stops ringing I make a last swing with the fan in my hand, sending a thin blade of wind after the clown, severing its upper body from its legs. The Akuma explodes, making the entire church shake a little from the sudden explosion.

I let myself sigh out in relief, as I dump down on the nearest pew, trying to stop the bleeding from my left arm with my hand. Suddenly remembering I need to find the bell before it stops ringing, I jump up from the pew, forgetting everything about rest and my bleeding arm as I try to carefully listen after the familiar _dong_.

…

To my relief I hear it after having stood a couple of seconds in total silence. However, it's starting to slow down now, meaning it's the end of the song. I run back and forth in confusion, trying to find a way to the tower where the bell is hanging, as I see a small brown door, almost hidden behind the altar. I run toward it as fast as I possibly can, putting both of my fans back in my belt and taking a last glance back at Kie and the rest of the Finders, hoping they won't get attacked by an Akuma, before I with a firm grip on the door handle tear up the door, and run through it into a small squared hallway.

I feel my blue eyes look around bewildered, first at the door leading to another room, and then at the black spiral staircase leading up to one of the towers, and I listen carefully, trying to detect whether the sound is coming from up there or not.

Deciding the sound has to be coming from the floor above, I sprint toward the spiral staircase, while thinking the entire scenario through one more time. _Why does the bell keep on ringing every night? Why has it been trapping people in the church, keeping them here even to the brink of death?_ I jump up on the first step at the staircase, holding on to the handle as I run upstairs two steps at a time. _There has to be a reason for the Innocence to be doing all of this – a connection somehow._ The sound of the bell is slowly starting to fade and suddenly it hits me, the reason why it felt like I had heard the melody before.

_It's a lullaby._

And not just any lullaby. It's one of the various lullabies I used to sing for my younger sister when she couldn't fall asleep at night. The melody the bell has been playing, for years now, is the exact same lullaby that has also been one of my sister's favorites for years. I know it in and out like my own pockets. Remembering how I used to sit by Lily's bed, singing the song over and over again to make her fall asleep, suddenly leads me on to remembering something else.

_The first mission Allen went on._

He had to go receive Innocence in Martel from a living doll that had been living along with a man for years all by themselves in the abandoned city. The only thing the doll wanted was to stay with the deceasing old man, singing the same lullaby to him until he passed on. The doll had been made for singing, to bring happiness to its people, but as the villagers left the city the doll slowly started to go insane, not being able to fulfill what it was made for. After years had passed by, the man found the doll, saving it by staying along with it for years and listening to the lullaby being sung every day.

_This mission isn't really that different._

Finally realizing the motives of the Innocence, I jump up the last three remaining stairs, just in time to see a small green light coming from the huge church bell, before it stops ringing, having reached the end of the lullaby.

I pant heavily (I need to work on my stamina), while looking over at the old bronze bell. When Daniela died, the villagers stopped coming to visit the church. The bell though, being made for people to listen to it and to spread light into the obscure town, kept on ringing every night, despite no one listening to it any longer. As time passed by, the Innocence must have begun to get frustrated, and as some of the villagers entered the church to find the source for the odd ringing every night, the Innocence probably saw this as an opportunity to finally get to play for people again, thus somehow trapping the villagers in the church. I bet it kept on doing this until people completely stopped coming even near the church. However, human beings can't survive for long without food and water, meaning the thirteen skeletons I found downstairs is probably the remaining corpses of the villagers who entered the church.

And Innocence (usually) doesn't affect other Innocence-users, which explains why my mind didn't suddenly shut down and go into a trance when I entered the church – but Kie is a Finder, which is why he was affected.

"All you wanted," I say, now talking directly to the bell as I walk closer to it, "was for people to come and listen to your song, just like they used to do with Daniela." Slowly I let my fingers slide across the cold metal surface, keeping my gaze at the enormous bell.

"I can help you to properly sing the lullaby one last time. But then you also have to stop haunting this town." I let myself dump down on the cold stone floor, still resting my fingers on the bell.

"Trust me, it's just not worth it."

Without expecting any kind of answer, I make sure to clear my throat, before opening my mouth.

_Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby _

_Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay _

_And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow_

_Bless you with love for the road that you go_

Slowly, the bell starts to ring along on the lullaby, cribbing back and forth, as it follows the melody of the song.

_May you sail far to the far fields of fortune _

_With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet _

_And may you need never to banish misfortune_

_May you find kindness in all that you meet_

Now we're both completely in sync with each other. A small green light shining out from the bell, starts to cast dancing shadows into the tower, making it seem like we're actually not here by ourselves.

_May there always be angels to watch over you _

_To guide you each step of the way _

_To guard you and keep you safe from all harm _

_Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay _

_May you bring love and may you bring happiness _

_Be loved in return to the end of your days _

_Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you_

_I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay_

Brown rust is little by little starting to cover up the church bell, however it doesn't stop ringing. The green shadows are slowly starting to fade, as the light from the bell becomes weaker.

_May there always be angels to watch over you _

_To guide you each step of the way _

_To guard you and keep you safe from all harm _

_Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay..._

As I finish the lullaby, the rust has taken over the entire surface of the bell, which bit by bit starts to crumble, the rusty metal falling to the ground and becoming dust. I sit completely still for a few minutes, just looking at the old bell being turned into dust. I let my gaze rest on the big pile of gray dust, right in the middle of it, an encircled silver wrench at the size of my palm is lying, slightly glowing green.

I reach out for the green-lightening object, as a small wind flies through the tower, scattering the pile of dust into thousands of different directions. As I pick up the wrench I feel a presence from the object, a somehow familiar feeling, the same I get when I hold my Anti-Akuma weapon. It's a warm and tickling feeling, like when you reach out to feel your own heartbeat.

"So this is Innocence." I mumble to myself, looking fascinated down at the stunningly beautiful object. No wonder people say that it is a gift given by God. I grin to myself, not letting my eyes tear away from the Innocence for even a second.

"I guess this means I completed my first mission."

_Sweetness._

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**A/N: I swear you guys are the best. I received so many sweet reviews so I felt like writing and publishing an extra chapter this week (even though I should probably be getting ready for exams -_- because screw homework that's why! Procrastinating is my life...). **

**Anyone know the song used in this chapter by the way? If not, then it's called 'Sleepsong by secret garden' (in case anyone feel like checking it out). I think I heard it once and then ideas on the mission started popping up in my head. And yes, I know it was published like ten years ago and not in the 19th century, but that's intentional. Wanna know why? *smirks* Too bad, you're gonna have to wait~**

**Thanks for reading, hope you liked it :) **


	9. Finishing Up

Remembering Kie and the other Finders have been under the Innocence's spell this whole time, I quickly get up and run toward the staircase with a firm grip on the Innocence. I jump down the spiraled staircase, almost tripping a few times, before I make it down safe and sound and I run right for the door, bursting it open.

"Kie!" I cry out, just as I run through the door, stopping behind the churches' altar, all five Finders looking up at me in surprise. _Uh…awkward…_

"M-miss Bella! What happened?!" Kie asks me, looking utterly bewildered. I sigh out in relief, having been worried sick about whether Kie and the other Finders would ever return to normal. Suddenly feeling five kilos lighter, I run down the altar.

"I'll tell you everything later, ok?" I hurriedly say as I run past him down the aisle, heading for the door to get outside. As I open up the door, I hear Kie commenting on the red mark I gave when I slapped one of the Finders, and a sting of guilt strikes my chest as I run out through the door.

"Lavi!" I call out, and see to my relief the redhead standing a little further down the church. He turns around looking just as relieved as I feel when he sees me.

"Bella! Are you alright?!" He yells back, running toward me. I nod eagerly with a large grin on my face, raising my right arm for him to see the Innocence.

"I got the Innocence!" I laugh out, feeling ridiculously proud of myself. Lavi laughs back at me, about to say something as his entire face suddenly turns into a horrified expression, looking at something behind me. I turn my head a little in the last second as a huge bee-shaped Akuma flies right at me, hitting me so hard I with violent force fly through the air, before falling in the water at the old harbor. _I thought they had destroyed the remaining Akuma!_

The water surrounding me is cold, dark, murky and unwelcoming. It feels like icy-cold needles are coming from all sides, prickling and piercing my skin. Disoriented, my eyes dart from side to side, trying to figure out what's up and down. Panicking from the sudden lack of oxygen, I try to breath, cold salty water filling my mouth and burning my lungs. _Calm down._ I demand myself. This isn't the first time I have been close to drowning, it has happened not one, two or three times before, but _four _times before. I'm quite reckless when it comes to swimming in the ocean, and always overestimate my own swimming abilities and underestimate the power of underwater currents and large waves.

"_First rule when ever close to drowning, you must never start panicking sweetheart." _My mom's voice echoes in my head, speaking in our native language. I was five, and it was right after she had pulled me out of a strong current and onto the shore of the beach safely. _"Second, if you are ever caught in a current, you must never struggle and try to get free. Simply let it take you, and it will eventually let go. Then you can swim into the shore."_

Despite the current circumstances I end up smiling softly at the memory. _"Keep in mind that a person's body is lighter than the water."_

With that thought in mind I immediately stop struggling, and simply let my body float upwards sideways, letting me know which way 'up' is. I then swim up to the water's surface, still holding a tight grip around the Innocence and just before I reach the surface I see the Akuma being destroyed by Lavi's hammer.

I spit out water and breath for air as I finally make it across the surface, my body shivering from the icy water.

"Bella!" Lavi runs out on one of the wharfs closest to where I am, a mix of worry, surprise and shock on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Lavi, I fell in the water!" I whine, first realizing now that I was actually just pushed in the water. I look up at Lavi, feeling all of the previous happiness turning into annoyance and disappointment. Lavi looks a little puzzled back at me, before bursting out in laughter.

"Wha- it's not funny!" I snap at the redhead, but he just continues to laugh.

"I'm sorry!" He says, almost chocking on his own laughter, and honestly, I hope he will. He stretches his hand out for me to take. "Here."

Swimming over to him, I reach out for his hand, for a few seconds considering pulling him into the water with me, but come to the conclusion that it would be too stupid, seeing as we're still on a mission. Without too much difficulty Lavi pulls me out of the water, and I stumble upon the wharf, handing over the Innocence to him before I take a look at myself in disappointment, making Lavi crack up laughing once again.

"Seriously, it's _not_ funny." I snap at him, starting to get a little annoyed with this.

"I know, I know, sorry." He nods, desperately trying to get his own laughter under control. I shiver as a cold breeze whips through the air, making my wet hair sway and goose pimples appear on my skin. Finally having stopped laughing Lavi looks at me, now with a more apologizing expression on his face.

"You should take off your clothes if you don't want to get sick."

"What, you want me to strip now?" I snap at him, not having the profit to hear any more of his silly jokes.

"No, no, just the worst of it." He says, pointing at my jacket. "Like your jacket and gloves."

Doing as the Bookman tells me, I begin with shivering hands to remove my gloves and jacket. I look confused up at Lavi as he takes off his own jacket and then hands it over to me.

"Won't you be cold?" I ask puzzled, still accepting the warm jacket nonetheless, putting it on with gratitude.

"You're the one here who is soaked." He laughs at me, taking off his orange scarf and gently rolling it around my neck a few times, my mouth almost disappearing under the long scarf. My eyes dart to the ground, and I try to bury my head in the warm scarf so that he won't see me blushing, while trying to calm down my racing heart, beating at the same pace of that of a humming bird's wings.

"Thank you."

"Any time." Lavi smiles at me, before bursting out in laughter again. I just sigh, a little irritated with him. _You just ruined the moment, idiot…_

"Miss Bella! Mr. Lavi!" I turn away from the laughing redhead, glancing over at the church, as Kie comes running out of it, followed by four puzzled-looking Finders. _Here comes "Sherlock" and his minions. _

"What exactly just happened?" He asks both us, mainly looking at me though. Finally Lavi pulls himself together and stops laughing, looking at me a little confused.

"Yeah, what happened? How did you get the Innocence, Bella?" He asks, still smiling though. I am about to open my mouth to tell them everything, as Kie interrupts me.

"M-miss Bella, your arm!" He exclaims looking at the left sleeve of Lavi's jacket that has now been stained a crimson red color.

"Bella, you're bleeding!" Lavi exclaims, looking just as shocked as Kie. Having completely forgotten about the wound I got from the clownish Akuma, I pull out my left arm of the sleeve, a little confused to have a look at the ulcer. _Oh yeah…_

"One of the Akuma got me in the church." I mumble, suddenly feeling the stinging from the flesh wound, now that my adrenalin has finally slowed down.

"You need to go to the hospital." Kie goes on, the four Finders behind him nodding in agreement, remaining completely silent though (a sight I would have laughed at if it wasn't for the current situation).

"No that's fine." I reassure them, the wound telling me otherwise though. "Besides it could take hours and I really want to go back to the Order." I go on, shivering a little and then add. "If we stay here for too long, I might get sick."

Lavi and Kie exchange a glance, before Kie walks over to the left side of me, pulling up a white roll of bandage from his pocket. Knowing I won this argument, I stretch out my wounded arm for him to examine it.

"It's not looking _that_ bad." He says, still examining it. _I don't see you bleeding anywhere…_Gently he starts to roll the bandage around my arm, pulling a little in it to stop the bleeding, making it sting a little more for a few seconds. "It must still hurt though." He glances up at me, finishing the first aid bandaging. I just shrug my shoulders a little.

"It's not that bad." I answer him, which isn't even a lie. Honestly, it's the smaller wounds I hate getting, like paper cuts and especially the sting of needles. Kie let's go of my arm, and I pull the warm sleeve back on. I then begin to jump a little from side to side, trying to get warmth back in my limbs. Again, I am about to tell Lavi and Kie what happened in the church, as I suddenly see Kanda appearing from behind the corner of the church, looking perfectly fine.

"K-Kanda, are you alright!" I yell, loud enough for him to hear me. He just growls something I can't exactly hear as he walks over to the rest of us, looking with a little confused expression at the sudden four extra Finders (once again, something I would have laughed at if not for the current situation), which then turns into annoyance, probably because he missed out on a lot having to fight the Level 3.

"Mind filling me in on everything." He more like demands than asks, mainly looking over at Lavi. The redhead just shrugs before glancing at me.

"Actually we're all waiting for Bella to explain, seeing as she's the one who got the Innocence." Lavi pats the pocket of his pants, where he put the Innocence. Kanda's eyes then go from Lavi to me, scrolling up and down my soaked form, his eyes showing confusion and annoyance once again.

"What the _hell_ happened to you?" He growls, looking from Lavi's jacket to the wet clothes I am holding in my right hand. Again, Lavi bursts out in laughter and I sigh a little in irritation over him. It was a little funny the first time, but now it's just getting old.

"I was pushed, PUSHED!" I yell, mainly at Lavi though, but he just keeps on laughing, "in the water." I finish. Kanda looks from me to Lavi and then back at me with a blank face expression.

"Did the stupid rabbit push you in?" He snarls looking annoyed over at Lavi, who is about to open up his mouth, probably to defend himself from Kanda's accusation, but I interrupt him.

"Actually I was pushed in the water by an Akuma." I confess, making sure to look the other way.

"Well, what kind of _klutz_ gets pushed in the water by an Akuma." He growls annoyed at me, before turning around on his heels, walking away in the direction of the town. _Wha - it caught me off guard! _I snarl out swears and curses in my own language after the blue-haired exorcist, making sure to do it in a low voice though, not quite having the courage to yell it out at him so that he can hear it, let alone do it in a language he understands.

Lavi grins at me, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Releasing a tired sigh I start to follow Kie and the rest of the Finders along with Lavi through the sleeping town, heading right for the train station so that we can get home. On the way I start telling them everything about how the Innocence had been trapping people in the church and how I ended up getting hurt by the Akuma, the only thing I exclude is how I figured out the motives of the bell (by remembering Allen's first mission) and then of course that I sang the lullaby for the Innocence to regain inner piece (as that would have been extremely awkward to explain).

As we all realize that the four Finders have been trapped inside the church for a few days now, Kie decides to call the headquarters just to inform them that the lost Finders are back safe and sound.

Lavi, Kanda and I are standing by ourselves, on one of the deserted dark streets, waiting for the five Finders to finish the call with headquarters. The full moon is shining upon us, illuminating up the sky and the dark streets with its silver light.

Feeling my legs aching from tiredness and overexertion I wobble over to rest a little against the wall, placing my back against the cold stone material beside of a yawning Lavi. A little tired, I glance over at Kanda standing in front of us, the samurai doesn't look to be bothered by the lack of sleep at all, instead he just sighs irritated, having to wait for the Finders to finish their call.

Something has been bothering me ever since we left the church though. _How is _that_ lullaby here? _I mean it makes no sense. Unless I'm mistaking, the plot and story of D. Gray-man takes place in the late 19th century. _Correction:_ I _know _it takes place in the late 19th century – I have seen it with my own eyes. _But how is the lullaby here, then?_ I know for a fact that it isn't that old of a song. It must have been released in the 21st century. I don't remember the exact date, but I do remember hearing it in the radio as a kid when it was fairly new (and then I decided I'd like to sing it for my sister). _But then how…?_

…

…_Oh well. I'm too tired to try and figure it out right now…_

"You two didn't get hurt at all?" I mumble tired, feeling a little guilty since I haven't thought of it at all upon till now. I glance from Lavi to Kanda, who is looking quite uninterested the other way, down around ignoring my question.

"Nope." Lavi grins tired, yawning again.

"What about you Kanda?" I go on, looking over at the exorcist who obviously doesn't show any sort of interest in the conversation whatsoever. At first he just tries to pretend like he doesn't hear me, but I just keep on staring at him, seeing the vein on his forehead grow, indicating that he is getting more and more annoyed with it and then eventually gives in to my starring.

"Of course not." He snarls annoyed, still looking the other way though. Lavi chuckles a bit.

"Even if Yu had gotten an injury, it would have probably been healed by now." He says, looking over at Rapunzel.

"_Don't_ call me that." The samurai snaps, looking with piercing eyes back at Lavi.

_That's right. _Because of certain circumstances, Kanda has an incredible healing ability, even being able to bring him back from the brink of death. I glance back at Kanda with a more interested look, hoping for him to explain it all to me, but the blue-haired exorcist just looks the other way, with an even more annoyed expression on his face now.

Just to annoy him, I'm about to ask him more about his healing ability, even though I know the reason, but I stop myself from doing so as I for a short second get a quick glimpse of what looks like…grief? I'm not sure, it was very quick, I could have imagined it...

Suddenly remembering the _entire_ reason, and the terrible past Kanda has had, I let my eyes fall to the ground, recalling how I cried and was depressed for hours after reading about Kanda's history. Truth to be told, I have great respect for him staying at the Order, given all of the shit he has been through because of it. I know I'm going to have to ask him about it all eventually, but right now probably isn't the right time.

We stand a couple of minutes in silence, before Kie and the other Finders comes back, Kie goes with us as the train arrives while the other Finders apparently have another thing to check, waiting at the station for another train as we drive away.

* * *

"How is your arm doing?" Lavi asks me, as we finally get to sit down on the soft leather-couches in the coupé, Kanda sitting across from Lavi and me (once again), looking out the window…once again. I let myself lean up against the cold surface of the glass, placing the orange scarf over my chin and let my eyes fall shut before answering Lavi's question.

"Fine, I guess. Honestly I'm so tired right now, which makes it soothe down a little."

"Ah~ sleep truly is the best drug for pain." Lavi jokes, less energetic than usual. I let out a tired halfhearted laugh at his stupid joke.

Too tired to keep up a descent conversation, I just close off from all of my surroundings, while waiting for the long trip back to headquarters to end, falling in and out of a half-sleep state, thinking that we have made it to Brescia's train station every single time the train stops. Eventually I just stop trying to stay awake, and during seconds I doze completely off. I only get to sleep for, what seems like, a few seconds though, before I feel someone gently touching my right arm, making me twitch a little in surprise.

"Bella, we're getting off." I hear Lavi's voice softly and I slightly nod, opening up my eyes as the redhead helps me up from the way too comfortable seats and out of the train.

The walk from the station through Brescia's empty streets feels like an eternity, and I swear, I am close to fainting more than once. I swear, I have never felt this tired before, it constantly feels like I'm either sleepwalking or as if my senses have completely dozed off; the only thing functioning on me is my legs. I feel like a fat kid after 45 push-ups and 2 rounds in the ring with a chicken. Finally though, we make it to the old town of Brescia where we first arrived with the Gate, only this time the Gate is nowhere to be seen. A little panicking, I slowly start to wake up.

"Where is the Gate?" I ask, my eyes darting from Lavi to Kanda to Kie.

"I just contacted headquarters. The Gate will open in two minutes." Kie tells me, putting back the black bat-formed golem in his pocket. _Oh, he must have done that while I wasn't paying attention._

Seeing Lavi dump down on one of the broken mosaic posts, I am really close to copying him and do the same, but come to the conclusion that I probably wouldn't be able to get back up again, so I end up standing while waiting for the Gate to open. Like Kie said, the white door rolls up from the ground a few minutes later, making me think of it as an elevator.

_I can't wait to be reunited with my best friend. His name is_ 'bed'.

* * *

**Disclimer: Don't own anything~ **

**A/N: Yep, Bella nearly drowned. Also a bit of a (one-sided) cute moment with Bella and Lavi. What did you think? ****If you guys have any questions, suggestions etc. feel free to ask and whatnot :) I really love hearing from you guys. **


	10. Within Body and Mind (not!)

"Welcome back!"

"Johnny!" I exclaim, feeling the joy of happiness as I see him, already feeling safe around the delighted young scientist. I run up to him, tripping from side to side in my still soaked clothes, a huge grin on my face. "Look Johnny! I survived!"

The young scientist simply laughs at me, giving me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Now, now Johnny, there are more sincere ways to greet a girl, you know." A little more rough voice says, and I tilt a little to the side, looking past Johnny to see a tall older scientist, maybe in his late forties or early fifties? He has shoulder-length brown dreadlocks with an orange clot cap on top of his head. His upper lip and chin are covered in uneven stubble, and finally he is wearing a small pair of circular-formed glasses. To a certain extent he kind of reminds me of an old hippie.

"N-no you're wrong! Bella is my friend!" Johnny exclaims, looking back at the older scientist, walking this way. He just laughs at Johnny and then turns to me, thrusting out his hand for me to shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Bella. I'm Jiji Lujun." The old man shoots me a friendly smile, and I feel a little bad for not being able to remember him from the manga.

"Hey there Jiji, Johnny!" A smiling Lavi yells, tripping over to us, filled with a little more energy all of a sudden and with a clenched fist, he punches Jiji and Johnny on the arm, Jiji lightly punches him back while Johnny stumbles a little to the side from the sudden hit. Jiji then turns his head, looking over at Kanda, still with a big smile on his face.

"Long time no see, Kanda! How's the sword for you got from Zu the old sword smith?"

"That old man is still alive?" Kanda growls before turning around to walk out of the room.

"If you don't have any complaint I'll tell him it's fine." Jiji yells after Kanda.

"Do what you want." Kanda finally says, as he disappears out the room. _Did Kanda just open his heart a little?_

"Oh yeah, Bella, Jiji was here at headquarters until about two years ago." Johnny explains, turning toward me, before Lavi laughing takes over the short explanation.

"But then he had a fight with the higher-ups and got sent to the Asia Branch, but was then sent back here again a few months ago."

"I knew Kanda when he was just a little wee-thing." Jiji laughs out, placing his hand in front of his stomach, showing the height of Kanda as a kid. I laugh at the old man's statement, before Johnny interrupts us.

"Bella, what happened to your arm!?" He exclaims looking in horror at my bleeding left arm, before noticing the wet clothes in my hands and the ones I am wearing. "And you're soaked!"

"Bella ran off on her own and then got hurt by an Akuma _and_ fell in the water." Lavi laughs, before letting me explain anything.

"But I _also _found the Innocence." I mumble a little annoyed, before I notice Johnny's worried look. "I'm fine." I reassure him, but he doesn't really seem to ease up.

"You should go to the nurses room at once, Bella." Jiji says, gently taking the wet clothes out of my hands.

"If you take care of Bella, I'll go to Komui's office and drop off the Innocence and a report of the mission." Lavi says, patting the pocket where he placed the Innocence, before turning around to walk out the room. _But I just wanna go to bed! If anything kills me, it's gonna be the horrific lack of sleep._

"Ah, Lavi!" I exclaim, taking off the orange scarf and the warm jacket as Lavi turns around, looking at me with a questioningly eye.

"Thank you." I murmur, feeling the warmth in my cheeks as I hand over the clothes to Lavi. "For lending me your jacket and scarf."

"Won't you be cold if you take it off now, since you're still soaked? You can just give it back tomorrow, you know." He says, still looking a little puzzled at me, not accepting the clothes in my hand.

"We're back at headquarters now, and I'm going to the nurses room anyway, so it's fine." I smile at him, before I suddenly feel something warm and smooth being laid across my shoulders. I look up at Jiji behind me, to find that he has gently placed his lab coat across my shoulders, both of his warm hands firmly placed on my shoulders.

"Don't worry Lavi, we'll take care of Bella from here on." The old man reassures Lavi, Johnny nodding in agreement, as Lavi accepts the clothes I borrowed from him and then walk out the room, smiling and waving at us, before disappearing.

"Well, let's get you to the hospital, Bella." Jiji smiles, gently leading me out of the room, followed by Johnny tripping behind us.

They lead me through the different hallways until we reach two big divided rooms, both of them filled up with hospital beds and glass-shelves stuffed with different kinds of medical-tools and medicine. Johnny walks into the smallest one of the rooms, followed by me being leaded by Jiji into the white-walled room. Jiji motions foe me to sit down on one of the white-sheeted beds and Johnny sits down beside me, as a woman in a darkly colored long dress with a high, stiff collar, a white pinafore apron and a nurse's cap shows herself. Her pale hair is pulled back into a tight, braided bun, with some sharp facial features and small squinty gray eyes.

I shudder a little at the sight of the harsh-looking nurse, but try to ignore it by looking out one of the elongated windows, watching the silver-shining moon on the black sky.

"Head Nurse, this is Bella Morrison. She got into a bit of trouble during her mission." Jiji explains, pulling the white lab coat off my shoulders and showing the wound on my left arm. The Head Nurse pushes Johnny aside to get a better look of my arm, carefully taking off the scarlet stained bandage.

"You exorcists have to be more careful." She sighs, examining the flesh wound, before getting up and walking over to one of the glass-shelves, looking for something.

"Why are you all soaked?" She asks, finding some bandage in the shelf, and some sort of liquid. She comes back with the gear, wetting some of the bandage as she sits down beside me again.

"I'm going to make sure the wound is clean by disinfecting it, before putting a clean bandage on." She explains and I nod, telling her it's fine, before she adds. "It's going to sting." _Go for it._

I turn my head away from the scene, looking out the windows again, letting my eyes rest on one of the gray skies as the Head Nurse holds a firm grip around my arm, before starting to clean the wound. I make a frowning grimace, gritting my teeth together in pain, as the burning liquid starts dapping on my wound and I have to remind myself that I would rather have my wounds disinfected a hundreds times over, than get an injection. Bit by bit, I feel the stinging in my left arm disappear and as I look back at the wound, I see to my surprise a completely fresh bandage being laid around it.

"Thank you." I say, smiling at the Head Nurse who just smiles back at me, before she softly puts her hand on my forehead, feeling the temperature.

"You don't have a fever, luckily." She concludes, letting her hand fall down her side as she gets up from the bed, walking over with the leftover bandages and disinfection. "You should go to bed at once, though. You have dark circles under your eyes. Also," She turns around, looking at Jiji and Johnny with piercing eyes, "you two workaholics should get some sleep, too. If you are tired it only adds to my work."

I can see how the color of both scientists completely leaves their face, sitting completely still, trying to avoid eye contact with the nurse's sharp glare.

"Yes, Ma'am." They both mumble, before running out of the hospital, Johnny pulls me in the wrist, while Jiji pushes me in the bag, making me stumble along with them.

"Remember to come and get your bandage replaced tomorrow, Miss Bella!" The nurse yells after us, and I shiver a little at the thought of having to come here by myself. _Imma call her Pissy-missy-nurse from now on._

At last making it to my room, I make a long tired groan, not even having the profits to turn on the light. I walk over to the brown dresser, nearly tripping over my own bag on the way, and then glance into the mirror hanging above it. Again, I sigh as I see myself in the reflection, using the silver light from the moon to get an overview. My hair has never been so messy before, the tips of it is standing out in every direction because of the wetting, and I don't know if it's because of the moon-light, but my face looks horrifyingly pale, making the dark circles under my eyes stand out even more. I think the correct term to describe my looks at the moment is "Zombie". _What time is it anyway?_ With my remaining strength I take off the wet clothes, throwing it over in the corner of the room, and then manage to put on my pajamas before I let myself fall down in the oh so comfortable bed, snuggling under the soft duvet.

* * *

I have no idea what time it is, at least late enough for the sun to have risen to the top of the sky, and I am inertly snarling curses and swears at myself for forgetting to pull the curtains for the window to block off the suns piercing beams.

Growling, I pull the white duvet over my head, turning away from the bright room as I close my eyes trying to fall asleep again, but all of a sudden feel completely awake. Groaning in irritation, I sit up in the bed, glancing with piercing eyes over at the window, squinting my eyes together because of the yellow-glowing beams. _I hate mornings so very much… _

Line!

"Welcome back, Bella." Jerry greets me with his usual smile, as I stop in front of his worktop. "I heard from Lavi your mission went well."

"Thanks, and yeah it did." I smile back, feeling weirdly lazy today. "Will you make me some egg and bread?"

Full of energy as usual, Jerry nods, happily turning around to make what I just ordered. I turn around, looking out in the huge dining hall, which is not as filled up as usual, but there are still a lot of people. A little desperate I try to look for anyone I know, but the only thing I can see are scientists I don't know or Finders that I don't know either.

"I take it Lenalee isn't back from her mission? And Lavi and Allen is training?" I ask Jerry as he turns around with a finished tray of breakfast.

"Yes Lenalee is still on her mission in Budapest." Jerry pushes the tray toward me. "As for those two, Allen was sent on a mission yesterday and Lavi had some things to check out in Russia with Bookman."

Oh. Damn. Those three are sort of the only people (with an exception for Johnny) that I have been spending time with ever since getting here. If they aren't here, then what do I do? Maybe this is like a wake-up call, telling me to go talk with some other people here… Or I could just go into my anti-social mode and flee to my room.

Suddenly though, I see the familiar dark-blue long hair, the samurai sitting by himself by one of the benches. _Well, it's not like he hates me… I hope._ Briskly I walk over to the table, dumping down on the bench beside Kanda.

"Good morning." I smile to him, hoping he won't yell at me to leave again. With squinted eyes, Kanda eyes me.

"It's 2:15 pm." He says shortly.

"Good afternoon, then." I correct myself, taking a bite of the newly baked bread. He just sighs at me, turning his head back to the steaming soba. I glance down at the Japanese noodles, remembering that Kanda never eats anything _but _soba. Seriously he eats it morning, noon and evening, 24/7.

"Does soba really taste _that_ good?" I ask, looking a little curiously up at him. With a really annoyed face, almost raging, Kanda turns his head to me, his eyes showing nothing but anger and disbelief.

"You've _never_ tasted soba?"

"N-no." I squint, starting to feel a little nervous from his stare.

The dark eyes squint together even more, going from me to the plate of egg and bread in front of me, before Kanda gets up and snatches the tray in front of me.

"H-hey!" I yell after him, as he walks up to Jerry, placing my food at his desk while saying something to Jerry. A few minutes pass by, before Kanda comes back to the bench, placing a bowl filled with steaming hot soba in front of me as he sits down again beside of me.

"Eat." He demands, picking up his chopsticks and going back to eating his own meal. I look at him in total disbelief for a few seconds. _Did he just take my food, and replace it?_ Finding the entire situation a bit hilarious, I turn toward the noodles with a smile on my lips, picking up the chopsticks, only to start cursing myself for always having avoided eating with these things. It doesn't look anything as professional as when Kanda does it, but I manage to somehow eat with the wooden sticks (after having dropped them multiple times).

"Well?" Kanda suddenly growls, still eating his noodles.

"What?" I ask a little puzzled.

"What do you think of the soba?" He snarls annoyed at me, as if that's a given.

"It's fine."

"Just 'fine'?" Kanda squints his eyes together, glaring at me.

"It tastes pretty good, but I have tasted better things." I shrug my shoulders a little, hoping he won't induce forth his sword and cut me in two. Kanda just looks at me in total disbelief, before sighing annoyed and turning back to his empty bowl, placing his chopsticks on top of the green bowl.

"You're weird, girl."

I smile a little to him, finishing up my noodles as Kanda suddenly gets up, taking with the empty bowl.

"Where are you going?" I exclaim, not wanting to be left all by myself.

"To meditate." He answers simply.

"Can I… uh… come?" Once again he squints the dark eyes together, looking at me with irritation. "I've always wanted to learn how to meditate." I go on, trying to make puppy eyes as good as possible (out of all people, I _don't_ think it's gonna work on Kanda though). Honestly I feel really lethargic and lazy at the moment, so I don't feel like going training or having to participate in any long conversations.

"_Fine_. But if you don't behave properly, I swear, I will throw you out again." Kanda finally says, walking over with the bowl at Jerry's desk.

"Really? Thank you!" I exclaim probably a bit too happy, making Kanda give me that annoyed look I used to give my younger sister whenever she would want to tag along with me. Behaving a little more nicely I walk up with the finished bowl, putting it at Jerry's worktop, and then run after Kanda. The dark-haired exorcist (without waiting by the way) heads for a large, light and completely empty room, that almost seems to be made for meditating.

Kanda marches right into the middle of the room and then dumps down on the floor, crossing his long legs. Sitting in a legged position he now closes his dark eyes.

"Find a comfortable position to sit in." Kanda tells me and I walk over to him, dumping down beside him, deciding to sit in the same legged position, placing my hands in my lab.

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath." He goes on still having closed his eyes, and I do as he says, trying to take deep breaths as I close my eyes.

…

"Am I doing it correct?" I ask a little uncertain, as my breathing isn't following Kanda's and I open my eyes to look over at him questioningly.

"You have to feel it all the way down in your stomach." He answers me, still having closed eyes. Doing as instructed, I close my eyes again, trying to really take deep, long breaths, to feel it in my stomach, and this time it actually goes better. Enjoying the silence, I make sure to sharpen my ears as Kanda says something again.

"Now, empty your head from thoughts."

This on the other hand I find a little hard. Every time I manage to clear my head, something new suddenly pops up, making me think a little bit before actually realizing it.

"It's hard." I mumble, opening my eyes half up to look over at Kanda, the blue-haired exorcist just ignores my comment, obviously not finding it difficult at all. Sighing, I close my eyes again, trying to not think about anything, but for some reason the lullaby I sang along with the bell at the mission this night, keeps popping up in my head, and before I even know of it I am sitting and humming the lullaby aloud.

I yank in surprise as Kanda's hand suddenly flies up in front of my mouth, a little too hard, making my entire lower face sting, because of the sudden slap. _Ow. _I look a little surprised over at Kanda, seeing a vein of anger pop out on his forehead.

"When meditating you need to be _quiet_." He growls annoyed, still holding his long hand across my mouth and with closed eyes. Not being able to say anything I nod instead, making Kanda pull back his hand, placing it in his lab again. I close my eyes once more, taking a deep breath, trying to time my breathing with Kanda's, which actually helps me take my mind off of the lullaby.

"If you are having trouble keeping your mind clear, then try to listen to the surroundings." Kanda says a little after. Taking the samurai's tip I start to first match my breathing with his and then after, listen to the different sounds that I usually don't notice. Hearing the birds singing and the buzzing of different insects, I finally start to relax, keeping my mind on my surroundings first listening, then feeling, the beating of my own heart, the hard floor, and the turnings in the air. _Meditating actually isn't that bad._

* * *

"So, do you like, do something with your hair to make it so… shiny?"

I place my chin in my hand, resting the tip of my elbow on my folded legs, and then begin tapping a restless index finger on my thigh. _Aw man. Meditating sucks!_ I swear I have never had to do something so boring in my entire life! Nothing is going on. We are just sitting in the middle of a room, eyes closed and legs folded, and then listening to the oh so great sounds of mother nature like some other wise monk. And I am not very wise; let alone anything close to being a monk. I swear I would much rather go back to that boring school of mine than sit here… actually, no, I haven't sunk that low just yet. But it is _very_ close to getting there. Honestly, I have no idea of how many hours Kanda and I have been sitting like this, _a lot_ that's for sure, and it seems like every single minute is _slowly_ passing by at the same speed of a goddamn snail. And snails are _really_ slow. Just wanna point that out.

I thought meditating would be just a _tad_ cooler, than sitting around and doing nothing. Like, where are all of the cool tricks that will make me some awesome, unbeatable ninja-like exorcist. Isn't Kanda gonna teach me how to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks? Or maybe teach me how to climb trees without using my hands? No? Isn't that what meditation is about? Well what do I know I never tried meditating before. Well I _tried_ once, but about five minutes passed by before I decided it was boring and left to go get something to eat.

Just like the multiple other times I have tried to do some small talk with him, Kanda simply ignores me, my question being met with painful silence in response.

"Because, you know, I'd really like to know if you have some smart secret to getting your hair that silky… like-ish."

Silence.

I sigh, looking away from the Japanese exorcist and scanning the room we are in (once again) for something entertaining to stare at. And like the forty other times I checked, nothing interesting meets my gaze. I swear, this has got to be the most boring-looking room I have ever been in! There is nothing interesting to help keep my boredom at distance. Sure, the large open window at the other end of the room, showing the view of a beautiful garden-like forest outside is pretty and all, but I have been staring at that for the past hour. I need something new to look at!

I eye a butterfly warily as it manages to fly into the room, through the crack of the open window. It's brown and orange wings flapping up and down like a hummingbird, the insect start making its way toward Kanda and I. Though most people might find butterflies all pretty and peaceful, I actually don't like butterflies very much. In fact, I don't like any creature that has more than four legs. It's unnatural. And creepy. And weird. And I'd rather it just kept its distance from me.

I start inching my way to the side as the orange and brown-contrasted insect makes its way past Kanda, the Japanese exorcist not sparing the creature one look and keeping his eyes shut in concentration, as it flies in my direction. _It can sense the fear._ My blue eyes follow the butterfly's every movement in suspicion, watching as it changes course and flies over my head… and then lands with a silent _plop_ on my hair.

…

"ARGH!" A very loud (and very manly) sound escapes my throat as the insect settles down in my hair, making Kanda's eyes shoot open in shock and then fall to me. I jump up from the floor, shaking my head from one side to the other in a panicked attempt to try and pry the butterfly off without touching it.

"Oi! You want me to throw you out!?" Kanda snaps in rage, watching me with angry eyes as I continue to throw my head from side to side.

"Get it off! Get it off!" I continue to cry out, sounding more like a panicked gang-leading bodybuilder than a teenage girl. My second attempt to try and get the miniature demon off involves running from one side of the room to the other, while swinging my head wildly around, like some other metal-rock singer, my hair quickly tangling together and becoming one big mess of a bird nest, making it even harder to get the six-legged booger off.

Only seconds before I accidently run into a wall in an attempt to pry it off, the butterfly decides to leave my tangled hair and fly off on its merry way.

"Ow!" I whine as my forehead connects with the hard wall, my entire head bumping back like another ball. I barely manage to stay on my feet as my body falls back from the sudden impact, my legs toppling and wobbling from side to side before regaining their balance.

"ARGH!" I yell again in my oh-so-manly voice, bending forward and holding my head in-between my hands in an attempt to try and make the painful stings of pain currently running through my head disappear. "Little sly bugger!"

"Out."

"Huh?" I mumble, raising my head from my hands and looking back at Kanda, the dark-haired exorcist giving me a warning glare.

"Get out." He demands coldly, closing his eyes and turning back to his boring meditation. "My patience with you is up. Get out before I cut you in two, Klutz."

"K-Klutz!?" I repeat in disbelief, making an offended snort. "I'm not even clumsy."

Kanda's eyes shoot open once again, the dark orbs turning to eye me in mock. "You fell in the water during a mission, you lost your chopsticks _eight_ times into the bowl and made soba splatter over the table during our meal,"

"It wasn't _eight_ times." I correct him in defense.

"I counted."

"Oh."

"And you just ran into a wall." Kanda finishes his list of why I'm supposed to be called a klutz. I open my mouth to retort back, but nothing comes out but half-spluttering words, and so I end up crossing my arms and turn my head in an offended pout.

"Well, fine then."

I bent in my knees, making a dramatic bow. "As thee wish, I shall leave," My pout turns into a smirk as I look up from the floor and into Kanda's annoyed face. "_Rapunzel._"

…

"_What_ did you just call me?"

The atmosphere in the room makes a sudden quick turn from simply irritated to a sudden heavy and _deadly_ tense air. _Oh geez._ I straighten myself up from my bowed position, trying to give the now menacing-looking Kanda a small smile.

"Not a big fan of that nickname, huh?" I laugh a bit nervously, my eyes darting around the room to find an escape route as Kanda suddenly starts reaching out for his mugen. Taking a few steps back from the raging exorcist, I point nervously to the door behind me. "So… I should probably get going, right?"

And with that said, without expecting an answer, I turn on my heels and make a run for it, not caring if I'm being a sissy and fleeing with my tail between my legs. No way am I gonna die by the hands of an angry samurai.

* * *

**A/N: Bella doesn't know when to shut up. What did you think of her and Kanda's "bonding moment". Want more of those (as in Bella saying/doing something stupid and nearly getting killed), or...? **

**Anyway, thanks for reading! **

******Disclaimer: I do not own D. gray-man or its characters.**


	11. Entering the Asian Branch

_The tall trees are closing off for any source of light coming from the silver moon illuminating the black sky. The eerie feeling from the forest is beginning to creep up my spine, raising all of the hairs on the back of my neck. I clench my hands into tight fists, ignoring the stinging pain from my nails digging into the skin of my palms. A terrible sound of bones breaking and low growling hisses are making it to my ears from somewhere in the dark forest, coming closer and louder for every second that passes by. _

_My legs instantly moves to a pace of running in the opposite direction and away from the terrible sounds, my mind simply set on fleeing. A feeling of terror squirms itself around my heart, as I desperately try to run through the forest, but realize that my legs are heavy and slow, making it seem like I am running in a slow motion. I whimper in agony, trying to speed up my pace, but a bloody, bony hand stops me from doing so; grapping my ankle and tugging me to the cold, branched ground. More of the bony hands grow up from the ground, like a flower spurting, grabbing my arms and legs, and pinning me to the ground. _

_I scream out in the darkness, trying to wrench myself free as the terrible crunches and growls get closer, overhearing my cries and screams for help. _

I bolt upright in the bed, my eyes darting open and a small gasp escaping from my trembling lips. The sound of birds chirping outside tells me the current time is nowhere near midnight. _A dream?_ My hand reaches up to my forehead, putting a strand of disobeying golden-brown hair behind my ear. _I guess the horror from killing Akuma and seeing old corpses have finally gotten to me._ With a loud satisfying yawn, I get up from the warm bed and walk over to the window, pulling the curtains to the side and exposing the piercing beams from the sun and an almost cloud free sky. The blue color of the sky is still dark though, so my guess is that the time is only about seven in the morning, which is surprisingly early for me to get up, but my eyes and mind is as clear as the sky outside, so going back to sleep is out of the question. _This is why I hate mornings…_

* * *

A little hesitantly I stick my head into the Science Department, glancing through the huge office as I look at every single scientist I come across until I find the sandy-blond haired chief, sitting by a desk covered underneath stacks of paper. Briskly I walk across the room; smiling to the few scientists I have seen before, waving at Jiji occupied doing some sort of experiment, as I stop in front of Reever's table.

"Here." I smile, putting the can of lemon soda in front of the paper he is currently signing.

"Ah, hey Bella." He looks up surprised from the desk, before with a relieved smile glancing at the soda in front of him. "Thanks."

"No problem." I smile back at him, dumping down on the chair beside his. "Jerry told me you forgot it. Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Just trying to find the papers I need to sign." He sighs tired, opening the can and taking a big sip of the sweet drink. I let my gaze follow the thousands upon thousands of papers, all messed together in smaller piles, wondering how he will ever finish signing the ones that needs to.

"Do you need some help?" I ask, knowing I won't get any training done either today, besides I am kind of bored right now, and helping out the Science Department actually seems kind of enjoyable. The sandy-blonde scientist looks a bit surprised at me, obviously wondering whether to let me help or not, letting his blue eyes glance from me to the messy paperwork.

"Are you sure?" He asks skeptical, not quite having made up his mind yet.

"Yeah, I might not be a genius, but I can organize the papers." I go on.

That seems to be all it takes to make Reever agree. And so I end up spending the next few hours helping Reever and the rest of the science department organizing the paperwork. For some reason I find it ridiculously relaxing to just sit and organize things, breaking into small conversations with either Reever, Johnny, Jiji or Tap's sister Cash.

I think helping these guys could end up becoming a habit. Unlike when I used to do homework for school, which is something I felt forced to do and absolutely boring, I actually find it quite nice helping them.

"Don't you find it a little odd?"

A little surprised from the sudden question, I glance up from the paperwork, looking puzzled at the tall scientist, wearing the exact same specialized lab coat as Reever with the identical badges at the collar. His pale blond hair is pulled back in a black hair band; accept two locks at his temples that hand down to his jaw. His entire energy and image seems a bit… mocking, so to say. He places the wire-framed glasses in place on his nose, continuing to look at Reever and I.

"One of the science section chiefs, having an exorcist help him do his paperwork." Arrogantly he crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Surely there is something wrong here."

"Huh?" I mumble feeling a little puzzled. _Who in the hell is this guy?_

"Ah, no…you see, this is…" Reever mumbles, looking at me while trying to find the right words, the guy in front of us just stands with an expression of pure arrogance, waiting for an explanation. I try to look for some sort of information about this guy in my head, but honestly I don't remember him at all from the manga. But something about his attitude, no, his entire presence really annoys me. Seriously, _who is he?_

"Well, do you disagree?" The guy asks, looking at Reever with piercing eyes.

"Ah, no…" Reever answers the guy in a hopeless tone.

"Actually, I do this because I enjoy it." I exclaim, finally getting myself together in order to say something. The blonde's eyes go from Reever to me, staring me down like another dwarf.

"You 'enjoy' it?" He repeats skeptical.

"Yes." I answer him, trying not to snarl it out. _Again, who is this guy? His entire existence confuses me._ I lean back in the chair, wondering whether he will go away soon as I suddenly notice the scientist's eyes, slowly glancing me up and down, stopping his gaze at my chest. _Seriously? _I shift in the chair, feeling quite uncomfortable from the sudden stare, noticing out of the corner of my eye, Reever glaring back at the guy.

"Well then, would you mind helping _me_ out with some paperwork?" He asks, a sudden grin on his face, motioning for me to walk over to his worktable.

"Um, alright…?" I mumble, getting up and walking over to look at the paperwork on the table he pointed at. _What a minute…is he giving me orders?!_

"Well, if she enjoys it, then I suppose I cannot complain…" I hear the guy mumble, probably to Reever. Even though I'm standing with my back facing the guy, it still feels like he is starring at me…

"Section Chief Peck, I would advise you not to look at Bella that way."

"Why? Does she have a lover?" _Must. Control. Fist._ "Or perhaps she has a brother too?"

_Holy crap that's right! I remember!_ This perverted Peck guy, along with another dude, joined the new headquarters after the Level 4 attack. He's a total pervert, also having stared at Lenalee and commenting on her coffee serving.

Finally remembering, I let go of the paperwork in my arms, letting it hit the table with a loud bump, and turn around, earning Reever and Peck's attention.

"Actually," I snap, glaring at the creep. "I don't feel like helping you after all."

I march over to Reever's table again, dumping down in the chair and making sure never to break eye contact with Peck the Perve.

"Also, I don't need a lover or a brother when handling creeps." I blow a piece of hair out of my eyes and cross my arms. "My fist and I have a pretty close relationship."

* * *

"Have you guys tried out all of the doors yet?" I ask curiously, as we enter the white Mediterranean-styled city, making sure to walk close to Reever so that I won't get lost.

So after I managed to scare off Peck the Perve, Reever had a bunch of paperwork he needed to drop off by the Asian Branch, and as I haven't been there yet, he suggested I tag along.

"No, not even half-way. There are so many Gates and we have only had the Ark for a few months." Reever answers as we walk over to one of the white doors with a big sign hanging, on it is written, 'Asian Branch'. _How in the world did they all communicate and travel around the world, when they didn't have this convenient system?_ With a little difficulty, Reever somehow manages to open up the door without dropping the stack of papers he is holding.

"In you go." Reever smiles, holding the door open for me. "Welcome to the Asian Branch."

Entering the Asian Branch, I'm a little surprised to find that there are no scientists in this room whatsoever, only a few guards in each corner, glancing at us for a few seconds before looking away again, and I am going to assume that they know Reever so well now, that they don't have to question him.

"Was the entire Asian Branch completely wiped out recently, or what?" I ask sarcastically, looking around in the almost empty room, and for a second actually considering the possibility of this place having been evacuated or something.

"No, no," Reever laughs. "There aren't as many staff members here as in the European Branch, being the main headquarters, the European Branch receives data from the other six branches analyzes it and dispenses orders according to what is found. All of the other branches have less employees and all exorcists are placed in the European Branch, so you just have to get used to the thought of living in the big building where the rules are the most strict."

_Well, the last part I was already aware of._ I nod to Reever's explanation while trying to get a better grip around the stalk of papers in my arms, trying not to drop it all on the floor.

"At any rate, we'll go to the cafeteria and then see if anyone knows where Supervisor Bak is." Reever says heading for the long hallway, and not wanting to get lost I run after him, making sure to stay close.

"Don't you think the Supervisor is in his office?" I ask a little puzzled, immediately regretting it as I remember how this Bak-guy really is.

"No, that guy is just like Supervisor Komui. He tries to escape work whenever he gets the chance, also he visits the European Branch way too often." Reever sighs as we walk down the hallway. _Poor guy. I think Reever has to put up with much more than he gets credit for._

Not before long, we make it to an Asian-styled dinning hall, way bigger than the one we have at the European Branch, but it might just look that way because of the four extra visible floors above this room. _Is this place located underground?_ I don't know why I didn't notice it before, but the floors and walls is a lot rougher looking than the ones at headquarters, these being made of cement. I am about to ask Reever whether this place is built underground, but someone else forestalls me.

"Section Leader Reever!" A rough older voice yells out, managing to yell over the chitchatting in the cafeteria. I take a step to the left, looking past Reever, to see a tall older man, maybe in his mid-sixties, with white hair and a Donegal-styled bear, his eyes almost completely covered up by the thick, bushed eyebrows, running toward us.

"Ah, Wong." Reever greets the way too energetic old man, as he stops in front of us. "We have some paperwork for Supervisor Bak." He goes on, before turning around to look at me. "Bella, this is the Assistant Branch Head of the Asian Branch, Sammo Han Wong. Wong, this is Bella Morrison, our new exorcist."

First noticing my presence now, the Asian Branch Assistant takes a few steps toward me, before politely bowing.

"Miss Morrison, it is a pleasure to meet you. I heard about your arrival at the European Branch from Supervisor Komui a few days ago."

"It's nice to meet you too, Wong." I smile to the older scientist, thinking for a second whether or not I should address him with some kind of honorifics, the man being from Asia and all.

"As for Master Bak, he left the cafeteria a few minutes ago and went back to his office." Wong tells us, looking up at one of the floors above us. _Oh god, do we have to walk all the way up there?_ I sigh, not having the profits to start walking up that many stairs while carrying a huge stack of papers in my arms, as a trio of younger scientists suddenly gets my attention.

"Wong!"

The first one of the trio that speaks up is a rather short girl with two thick brown braids and a couple of round glasses. It's a bit embarrassing, I do remember these three from the manga, but I don't remember their names.

"Master Zu has lost his hearing aid again, and Fou and Supervisor Bak are both freaking out over it." The guy beside her says, seeming to be the same height and age as Kanda and Lavi, having messed brownish hair and dark eyes. Finally, the guy beside him, approximately having the same height as Lenalee, has short, straight black hair that sits flat on his forehead and small brown eyes, looking a little more sophisticated with the lab coat buttoned up.

"Do you know where Master Zu's hearing aid is?" The taller one of the trio sighs as they stop in front of Wong, all three of them now looking at Reever though.

"Section Leader Reever!" The guy exclaims, a sudden glint of delight showing in his eyes.

"W-what brings you here, Section Leader Reever?" The girl asks politely, a slight blush showing up underneath her glasses. Honestly, I feel kind of overlooked here.

"I just need to drop off some paperwork for Supervisor Bak," The tired scientist answers, taking a step to the side and adding, "along with Bella."

I make a half-hearted wave. "That's me." I mumble deadpanned, walking up beside Reever. "I'm Bella Morrison. Nice to meet you."

"Ah, my name is Lou Fa!" The short girl exclaims, her entire face turning completely scarlet as she stumbles forward, trying to shake my hand firmly placed under the stack of papers, resulting in me almost dropping all of the papers on the floor, before both of us grabs a hold of the stack in the last second, saving it from the drop. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine." I smile softly to the nervous girl, before the taller guy walks up beside her with an expression of both embarrassment and annoyance.

"Lou Fa, be a little more careful!" He snaps at her, turning to me with a slight blush on his cheeks, and scratching the back of his head. "I'm Rikei, it's nice to meet you. And this is Shifu." He goes on, looking at the short Chinese guy beside him, who politely nods. _I haven't heard that guy say one word yet…_

"Miss Morrison is the new exorcist that Master Bak told us about." Wong says, the three young scientists looking gradually more interested.

"Oh, then what are you doing here?" Rikei asks. _Reever kind of said that a minute ago, didn't he?_

"I'm just helping Reever deliver some paperwork to Supervisor Bak." I smile at him, ignoring the urge to tell him about my thoughts aloud.

"Yes about that, we should get going." Reever politely excuses us from the trio of young scientists. Wong then helps us find the way to Bak's office, the walk up the trillion stairs nearly killing me on the way there.

Finally we enter a large Asian-styled office, a bit messy, but far from as bad as Komui's office.

"What was your hearing aid doing on my desk in the first place!?"

Three people are standing in the room besides Reever, Wong and me, seeming to be arguing with one another. The man with blond messy hair sighs, leaning back against the paper-filled wooden desk.

"Maybe I'm getting old?"

The man that has to be at least in his nineties rubs his ear a bit, as if trying to clear his own hearing. Across from him is a very short girl standing, glaring furiously up at the older man, flame-colored short, orange hair poking out from under her purple hat to frame her face, with matching purple clothes that resemble a tube top and bikini. The odd-looking short girl, almost alien like, snarls, her crimson eyes glaring daggers at the old man.

"Damn straight you are, you stupid old fart!"

I grin at the scenery in front of me. _I already love this place._

* * *

**A/N: I just realized Allen and Lenalee hasn't appeared for, like, six chapters. But worry not! They'll get back from their mission next chapter, promise ;)**

**Thank you all so much for favoriting, following and reviewing, and for simply reading the story!**

**Disclaimer: D. gray-man belongs to Katsura Hoshino**


	12. What If?

So after Reever and I finally managed to drop off the paperwork, and I was introduced to Bak, Fou and Master Zu, we didn't really stay for that long. Reever just had something to discuss with Bak, so I spent the time conversing with Fou, the girl repeatedly challenging me to a fight. I kept (nervously) saying no, promising her though that we could spar another day (maybe).

We quickly left after that, Reever having more work and as it had gotten late, I decided to go eat in the cafeteria and then return to my room as there weren't anyone to keep me company any longer.

Spending time by myself suddenly gets my thoughts on my family. I end up simply pacing back and forth in my room, thinking and thinking about them. A heavy burden of worry has settled down in my mind, like a large boulder balancing on my head, wavering from one side to the other, giving me a headache and ready to fall anytime, crushing and shattering me in thousands of pieces.

Are they all right? For how long have I been away now? I ran around in London for about three weeks and then I arrived at the Order six days ago. Six days, is that all it has been since I got here? It feels like I have been here for much longer. Maybe it's because I read the manga, so I feel like I know everybody a lot better than what would usually be the case. Come to think of it, am I acting too friendly around people? Too sentimental? Should I slow down and give people some space? What would mom and dad tell me? What are they doing right now? Are they worried about me? Oh no, what if they think I have been kidnapped? Or murdered? Or that I ran away?! Oh god! What would they think if they knew what I'm doing?! If they knew I'm currently in a war?! Would they be proud? Sad? Worried? Would they want me to quit being an exorcist?

"Gaaah! I don't know!" I yell, slamming my head hard against the wall.

…

"…Ow"

I rub my forehead, walking over to stare out the large window. _I wish I knew how things are going back in my own world…_

I sigh, putting my hurting forehead against the cold surface of the window, continuing to stare at the dark sky.

"Stop it Bella. You chose this. You have no rights to complain."

_That's right. I got away from my own boring life. I was given a second chance to make a difference in the world. Of course it would be a lot easier celebrating, if I knew my family and friends don't go around worrying. Oh well. It's not like I can do much about it at the moment…_

…

"…I'm hungry…"

Removing my head from the window, I look over at the clock, realizing it's close to being midnight. _Wow. Time runs by fast when you do nothing but worry…_

"Oh well!"

I stretch my upper body, deciding I might as well go get something to eat, as I'm not that tired anyway. I quickly put on an oversized sweatshirt and change into my pajama-shorts, deciding nobody will be seeing me during this time of the night. I'm too lazy to put on a pair of shoes, so I end up exiting my room barefooted.

Not gonna lie, it's a bit creepy running around the Order in the middle of the night when everybody is asleep, with an exception for some of the scientists of course. But at the same time I kind of like it – it feels like I have everything to myself that way.

"Alright, what do we have on the menu today…?" I mumble, rummaging through Jerry's fridge, looking for something delicious. I end up pulling out a half-cut chocolate cake and some milk.

I jump up on the kitchen table, placing the plate with cake on my lab and a big glass of milk by my side.

"Mmmh ~" I grin wide like a little kid on Christmas eve, stuffing my mouth full of Jerry's delicious chocolate cake – I swear, there isn't one thing that guy can't cook in this world (or any other world for that matter). I could totally get used to this, getting up every midnight and eating all of Jerry's desserts. Soon I'll be known as the "dessert thief".

I giggle to myself, swinging my legs back and forth while humming the melody of "Happy", smacking my hands together and clapping whenever I make it to the chorus.

"Bella?"

I nearly jump out of my own skin, losing the fork in my hand and choking (very ungracefully) on some of the cake in my mouth. I turn around on the kitchen table, and see to my own surprise Allen about to enter Jerry's kitchen.

"Allen?"

"Hi." The boy greets me with a smile, jumping over the table and walking over to me. "I see you had the same idea as me."

I just nod, completely dumbfounded. _Caught red-handed, huh? _Allen picks up the lost fork, politely handing it over to me before turning around to look through the refrigerator. I feel Timcanpy landing on top of my head, as I simply continue to stare at Allen.

"You're back from your mission?" I finally ask, watching as Allen pulls out a plate with sweet dumplings.

"Yeah, I just returned." The boy answers my question, jumping up on the kitchen table beside me, and starts devouring one of the dumplings. "How did your first mission go, Bella?"

I grin back at him, returning to eat my cake. "It went great. We got the Innocence and everything – I'm the one who found it."

Allen laughs softly, munching and swallowing another dumpling. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Welcome back." We both greet each other in unison, exchanging grinning expressions.

"Where's Double-dot?" I chuckle, taking a sip of my glass with milk. "Did you get so hungry you ended up eating him?"

Allen laughs. "No, I snuck out once he fell asleep."

"Smart." I praise him.

We end up sitting in a comfortable silence after that, each of us sitting and eating our own food. Allen walks over to the fridge twice to find something new to eat. I sit in my own thoughts for a bit, wondering whether I should try and discuss the matters of the 14th and the war with him. _I guess it can't hurt to try._

"Hey, Allen…?"

"Hmm…?" The boy looks up from the half-eaten apple in his hand.

"What's it like…sharing memories with the Fourteenth…?"

Allen jerks, looking up at me in surprise. I meet his stare with a soft smile, setting the chocolate cake aside for the moment, and pull my legs up on the countertop.

"I haven't exactly been here for long…" I begin, starring up at the ceiling. "And I don't know that much about this war." _That's a lie... I know much more about this war than Allen probably does…_

"So, you want to know about the Fourteenth?" Allen asks, a gentle smile on his face. I nod, hoping I'm not putting him in an uncomfortable position.

"Well, to be honest," Allen leans his head against the wall, his eyes resting on the floor. "I don't hear that much from him." _That's because the Fourteenth hasn't been fully awakened yet._ "I sometimes see him in my reflection. But that's pretty much it."

I nod, feeling the topic in our conversation dying. I'm a bit disappointed; I was kind of hoping I might have gotten some more information out of him. I can't start saying my theories about all of this aloud, if I haven't officially "heard" the right facts yet. They'll know something's up. _Guess I'm gonna have to approach it differently…_

"This is probably gonna sound a bit weird…" I make a soft chuckle-like sigh, shifting my head to meet Allen's gaze. "But I think there is more to this war than it seems."

Allen's eyes widens in surprise, disbelief written all over his face. _Yep. I'm extremely bad at pretending not to know anything._ I quickly come up with an excuse in my head.

"I mean… the whole thing with the existence of the Earl, the Noah and the 14th. It just all seems a bit…rubbish. Like there has to be a deeper meaning behind it all."

"You know…" Allen mumbles, a warm smile appearing. "My Master told me the exact same thing before he disappeared; that there is another side to this war."

"Really…?"

"Yeah. I probably shouldn't be telling you this though."

I grin at the boy. "I can keep a secret."

Allen laughs, taking another bite of the apple in his hand. "Can you keep another secret Central would probably lock me up for exposing?"

"Sure."

Allen looks away from me and down at the floor again, seeming to be wondering whether he should tell me or not. "As a kid I turned the only person that ever loved me into an Akuma. Mana, he was my adoptive father." He puts a hand to the scar on his eye. "He's the one that gave me this so I would be able to see the souls of the Akuma." I sit completely still, listening carefully to Allen's words. Though I already know all of this, it's so very different hearing it face to face from a person I thought was nothing else but a fictional character nothing more than a month ago. "Apparently Mana had a connection to the 14th. They were brothers."

A short silence follows, as I simply stare at Allen, and Allen stares at the floor. Even though I already knew all of this, I honestly don't know how to respond. Should I say I'm sorry on his behalf? Should I say something encouraging? I just don't know…

"Even so," Allen suddenly says, breaking the silence. "Mana always told me to keep walking forward. So that's exactly what I'm going to do."

I grin again. "That's a pretty good quote to have. Mana must have been pretty wise." I lean my head against the wall, letting my eyes close for a few seconds. "'Keep walking forward' huh? I'll remember that."

"Do you have any quotes you like to tell yourself, Bella?" Allen asks after having finished his apple, throwing the core in the trashcan. I think for a bit, letting the words sink into my head.

"Love your enemies…" I turn my head to look at the boy again, a smirk making it to my lips. "It pisses them off."

"Bella…" Allen groans in defeat, his smile widening nonetheless. We both end up laughing after that.

* * *

"Welcome back, Lenalee!" I yell as I see the familiar dark-haired girl entering the cafeteria, still wearing her uniform and a few bruises here and there on her legs and cheeks. Lenalee smiles brightly, tripping over and sitting by the bench Lavi, Allen, Link, and I are currently eating by. Lavi returned from his mission with Bookman this morning and now Lenalee is back too? They all just come crashing back from their missions at the same time. _Lucky for me. Then I won't have to spend the day by myself again, wandering around in my room worrying about stuff._

"I'm back."

"How did your mission go, Lenalee?" Allen asks, his mouth full of food.

"It went just fine." Lenalee asnwers with a sweet smile, turning to me. "I heard you were on your first mission, Bella. How did that go?"

I grin, the feeling of pride beaming off of me. "It went great, we got the Innocence and everything. I'm the one who found it."

"Eh~ you're still proud of that Bella?" Lavi asks me teasingly, making me slightly pout in offence.

"I bet you're just jealous because it turns out that I'm smarter than you." I tease him back, my pout turning into a smirk.

"Ah~ what are you talking about Bella? That was just a lucky guess – let's call it beginner luck!"

"Then I'm gonna have non-stop beginner luck, you know."

"AH! I can't take hearing this _again_!" Allen groans dramatically.

"You're such a kid, Beansprout." Lavi teases Allen, receiving a glare for calling him 'Beansprout'.

"Yeah Cotton ball, it's just a friendly disagreement." I smile innocently at Allen, the boy whipping his head around to look at me with wide yes.

"C-Cotton ball?!"

Lavi breaks out laughing, while Lenalee tries to stifle down her own sweet chuckles, holding a hand to her mouth.

"Yup, that's your new nickname. You know, because of your white hair." I grin at him, crisscrossing my legs on the bench in pride.

"That's mean Bella…" Allen fake-cries. "I already have Lavi and Kanda calling me Beansprout – I don't need you to come up with another nickname."

"Eh~ too bad! I like it! I came up with it last night after our talk in the kitchen."

"Bella!" Allen hisses, shooting me a warning look.

"What…?"

"That's odd. I don't recall going to the kitchen after the return of our mission last night, Walker." Link shoots Allen a skeptical glare. _Oh. Ups…_ I end up laughing alongside Lavi and Lenalee, watching as Allen tries to avoid Link's accusing glare, before the Inspector slams his cup of tea down on the table.

"You sneaked out while I was asleep, didn't you!?"

"Ah, I'm sorry Link! I was hungry!" Allen tries to excuse himself, still looking the other way.

"Do you realize the position you're in?! I am supposed to be watching you 24 hours a day, with no exceptions!" Link scolds Allen; Lavi, Lenalee and I continue to simply laugh.

"You know," I say, turning to grin at Link. "You're a really bad watchman, Double-dot!"

"I– don't call me that!" Link snaps at me. Lenalee continues to make that sweet laugh of hers, making me a bit envious. _I wish my laugh was that pretty – I bet I sound like a monkey or a witch when laughing…_

"I'm so glad."

I look a bit surprised over at Lenalee, cocking my head to the side in confusion over her comment.

"For what?"

"For you, Bella." She smiles softly at me, making me feel even more puzzled. "It finally feels like you have settled down and gotten used to things around here. When we first met, you just acted so stiff and polite, only showing your true side on rare occasions. Now it seems like you can finally relax enough to be yourself around everyone."

_Oh? I did that? I didn't even notice…_

I give Lenalee a contented smile, placing my chin in my hands.

"I think I have finally gotten used to this place myself."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the favorites, follows, reviews and for reading the story! Let me know what you think by leaving a review :)**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC, D. Gray-man belongs to Katsura Hoshino**


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